Quantum Computing for Computer Scientists: Quantum Computing Experiments with MATLAB
This appendix is going to provide the basic guidelines for “playing the quantum computing game” with the help of the MATLAB environment.
Abstract
PLAYING WITH MATLAB There is no better way to learn than playing. After all, that is how children learn. In this appendix, we are going to provide the basic guidelines for “playing the quantum computing game” with the help of the MATLAB environment. Reader Tip . This is not a full MATLAB tutorial. We assume that a fully functional version of MATLAB is already installed on your machine and that you know how to start a session, perform some basic calculations, save them, and quit. You should also know what M-files are and how to load them. For a crash brush up, you can read the online tutorial by Math Works: http://www.mathworks.com/academia/student_center/tutorials/launchpad.html. COMPLEX NUMBERS AND MATRICES We began this book by saying that complex numbers are fundamental for both quantum mechanics and quantum computing, so we are going to familiarize ourselves with the way they are dealt with in MATLAB. To begin with, we need to declare complex number variables. This is easy: a complex has a real part and an imaginary part, both double. The imaginary part is declared by using the “i” or “j” character.