The Math and Ideas Behind Quantum
You build the small amount of math a computer scientist needs -- complex numbers and vectors -- and then meet the real ideas of quantum: superposition, measurement and entanglement. By the end you understand what a qubit actually is.
Class 1Why quantum computing matters
What a quantum computer is, and what it could really do.
Class 2Complex numbers
The numbers quantum computing is built on.
Class 3Complex numbers: the geometry
Seeing complex numbers as arrows you can turn.
Class 4Vectors and vector spaces
How quantum states are written as vectors.
Class 5Complex vector spaces and inner products
Measuring length and overlap between quantum states.
Class 6Matrices and operators
How an action on a quantum state is written.
Class 7Bits to qubits: the quantum leap
How a qubit differs from an ordinary bit.
Class 8Superposition
A qubit being many possibilities at once.
Class 9Measurement and probability
What happens when you look at a qubit.
Class 10The qubit and the Bloch sphere
A picture of every possible single-qubit state.
Class 11Entanglement
Two qubits that cannot be described apart.
Class 12Semester 1 review: the quantum world
Pulling the math and ideas into one clear picture.