The promise of quantum computing

Using quantum mechanics for computation is a revolutionary idea, that could enable us to compute things that we never thought possible. Research groups and companies all over the world are trying hard to build such a new type of computer. We will first introduce the basic ideas behind quantum computation, such as superposition, entanglement, and the notion of using quantum error correction to preserve these in a computation. We will then look at the areas that quantum computing might impact the most. Finally, we will try to balance the expectations by going over some computational tasks that will not be sped up by quantum computation, and the roadblocks that have to be overcome to build a quantum computer.

The lecturers are Dr. Florian Speelman and Ph.D. Johannes Borregaard, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen