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Information Theory and Quantum Physics: Physical Foundations for Understanding the Conscious Process
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Author: Herbert S. Green
List Price: $99.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 354066517X
Publisher: Springer Verlag (February, 2000)
Edition: Hardcover
Sales Rank: 649,892
Average Customer Rating: 5 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 5 out of 5
A deeper understanding!
It started with Alan Turing and John von Neumann: Classical computation follows the model of A. Turing,-- strings of bits, i.e., 0s and 1s; a mathematical model, now called the Turing mashine. Why not two-level quantum systems? The thought was long in coming: From Bohr and Heisenberg to Feynman! The bright idea finally arrived, and with vengeance. An model for computation based on two-level quantum systems was suggested in the 1980ties by R.P. Feynman and D. Deutsch. Then another wait: It wasn't until Peter Shor's qubit-factoring algorithm in the mid 1990ties that the subject really took off, and really caught the attention of the math community. The 'unbreakable' codes might be breakable afterall! The fact that Shor found
a polynomial factoring algorithm naturally shook up the encryption community as well; and for obvious reasons. New elements of thinking in the quantum realm, and not part
of the classical frame of mind, include the basics of quantum theory: superposition of (quantum) states, uncertainty, and
(quantum) coherence. Although these concepts are at the foundation of quantum theory, they make a drastic change in the whole theoretical framework for computation: Now when one passes from the classical notion of bit-registers to
that of qubit-registers, the laws of quantum mechanics take over; and exclude the traditional cloning principle of error correction. Something different must take its place: A new theory! Mathematical physicist and computer scientists must revisit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli, and Dirac. In passing from logic gates to quantum gates(unitary matrices), the
concept of switching-networks from computer science changes drastically. It introduces new challenges, and new truely exciting opportunities. It is not easy for authors who break with tradition to make everyone happy;-- this is especially so in a new field,--one which has grabbed headlines, and one which
is at the same time interdisiplinary. -- This intriguing book covers several of the appropriate areas of physics (quantum theory, (some) experiment...), of artificial intelligence, of philosophy, of computer science (the mathematical physics side of the subject), and of math (operators in Hilbert space, and the theory of algorithms). In my opinion, the author did a great job. The level of the book is suitable for grad students in math, in CS, and in physics: It could perhaps have used some more worked examples and exercises. (Fortunately they can be found in other books on quantum computation, such as the Nielsen-Chuang book.) This book is timeless,-- and I expect it will also be popular ten years from now.
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