HP Labs Technical Reports

Basic Elements of Quantum Information Technology

Spiller, Timothy P.

HPL-97-149

Keyword(s): quantum; information; technology computing; cryptography

Abstract: The marriage of quantum physics and information technology has the potential to generate radically new information processing devices. Examples are quantum cryptosystems, which provide guaranteed secure communication, and quantum computers, which manipulate data quantum mechanically and could thus solve some problems currently intractable to conventional (classical) computations. This introductory chapter serves two purposes. Firstly, I discuss some of the basic aspects of quantum physics which underpin quantum information technology (QIT). These will be used (and in some cases further expanded upon) in subsequent chapters. Secondly, and as a lead into the whole book, I outline some of the ideas of QIT and its possible uses.

25 Pages

Back to Index