CSI 789 Quantum Information Theory

Spring 2005

Instructor: Dr. Jeff Tollaksen

Co-Instructor: Dr. Marco Lanzagorta

[Lectures]  [Description]  [Syllabus]

Credit Hours: 3

Description: This course provides an introduction to quantum information theory and its practical applications to information processing and secure communications.  Special emphasis is made on the quantum information technology areas that will have a big impact on commercial and defense systems in the near future.  After covering the basic fundaments of the physics, communication and processing of quantum information, this course explores more advanced topics such as quantum noise, quantum error correction codes, fault-tolerant quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum networks.  As quantum information theory is a rapidly changing research field, this course aims not only at providing basic textbook information, but also at discussing some of the latest results published in scientific journals.

 Course Objective: This course will provide students with an introduction to quantum information theory and its applications to information processing and secure communications.  The principal objective of the course is to make the students aware of the cutting edge research done in quantum information technology, as well as prepare them to read advanced literature and undertake scientific research in the area.  At the end of this course, the student is expected to have a working knowledge of the quantum information technology areas that will have a big impact on commercial and defense systems in the near future: fault-tolerant quantum computing, quantum cryptography and quantum networks.

 Prerequisites: An introductory course on Quantum Computation or an advanced course on Quantum Physics/Quantum Mechanics or Permission of Instructor.

 Texts: The basics of the course are covered in the following two books.  In addition, the student is expected to read several recent research papers as indicated by the instructor.

1. M.A. Nielsen and I.L. Chuang, Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. (Required)
2. D. Bouwmeester, A. Ekert and A. Zeilinger (eds.), The Physics of Quantum Information, Springer, New York, 2000. (Recommended)

 Grading:

            Assigned Project and Presentation: 30%

            Mid-Term Take-Home Exam: 30%

            Homework: 40%

 Instructors:  Dr. Jeff Tollaksen and Dr. Marco Lanzagorta

 Class:  Innovation Hall, Room 211, 7:20 pm to 10:00 pm, Mondays.

QUANTUM INFORMATION THEORY

SPRING 2005 COURSE OUTLINE

Course Section                      Topics                                                  Number of Weeks

 Part I                            Fundamentals of Quantum Information Theory                   2

Ø      The physics of information

Ø      The physics of quantum information

Ø      Quantum state measurement

Ø      Distance measurements for quantum information

Ø      Quantum information processing

Ø      Impossible and possible machines: Non-cloning theorem, Bell telephone, quantum copiers, etc.

Ø      The Holevo bound

Ø      Thermodynamics of information processing

Ø      Entropy and information

Ø      Quantum Communications

 Part IV                         Quantum Noise and Quantum Operations                           2

Ø      The physics of noise

Ø      Decoherence & limits of quantum computation

Ø      The quantum operations formalism

Ø      Examples and applications

Ø      Limitations of the operations formalism

 Part V                          Quantum Error Correction                                                    3

Ø      Classical error correction

Ø      General theory of quantum error correction

Ø      Symmetrisation procedures

Ø      Error operators, stabilizer and syndrome extraction

Ø      Code construction

Ø      Stabilizer code formalism

Ø      Clifford codes

 Part VI                         Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation                                  2

Ø      Fault-tolerant classical computing

Ø      Fault-tolerant quantum computing

Ø      Fault-tolerant quantum logic

Ø      Fault-tolerant measurement

Ø      Resilient quantum computation

Ø      Topological fault tolerance

 Part VII                        Quantum Cryptography                                                         3

Ø      Fundaments of classical cryptography

Ø      Privacy amplification & information reconciliation

Ø      Quantum secure communications

Ø      Quantum key distribution protocols

Ø      Privacy and coherent information

Ø      The security of quantum key distribution

Ø      Quantum eavesdropping

Ø      Experimental realizations

 Part VIII                      Quantum Networks and Entanglement Purification             2

Ø      Quantum networks

Ø      Multi-particle entanglement

Ø      Entanglement quantification

Ø      Entanglement purification

Ø      Quantum privacy amplification

Ø      Communication over noisy channels

Ø      Quantum Repeaters