Quantum Computing

by Ghosh.T (PhD, Physics)

Introduction

Quantum computing is a rapidly-emerging field focused on the development of computer

technologies centered on the principles of Quantum Physics. Quantum Physics explains the
nature and behaviour of energy and matter on the quantum (atomic and subatomic) scale.
Elementary particles such as protons, neutrons and electrons can exist in two or more states at a
time. This fundamental behaviour is utilized in designing the quantum computation processing
units and in fact it is more efficient than classical computation

Quantum computing uses a combination of bits to perform specific computational tasks with
greater efficiency than their classical counterparts. Even though quantum computers are not
going to replace classical computers, quantum technology is significantly changing the way the
world operates. The quantum computer gains much of its processing power through the ability
for bits to be in multiple states simultaneously. They can perform tasks using a combination of
1’s, 0’s and both 1 and 0 at a time

Brief History

In 1981, Paul Benioff at Argonne National Labs came up with the idea of a computer that
operates with quantum mechanical principles. In 1984, David Deutsch of Oxford University
provided the critical idea behind quantum computing research and the possibility of designing a
computer that is based exclusively on quantum rules.

The Essential Elements of Quantum Theory

 Energy values are discrete units.

 Elementary particles may behave like particles or waves.
 The movement of elementary particles is inherently random and, thus, unpredictable.
 The simultaneous measurement of two complementary values - such as the position and
momentum of a particle - is imperfect. The more precisely one value is measured, the
more flawed the measurement of the other value will be.

Moore’s law & its end

In 1965, Gordon E. Moore—co-founder of Intel—postulated that “the number of transistors that

can be packed into a given unit of space will double about every eighteen months”. This is also
known as Moore's Law

Gordon Moore did not call his observation as "Moore's Law," nor did he set out to create a
"law". Moore made this statement based on noticing emerging trends in chip manufacturing at
the semiconductor industry. Eventually, Moore's insight became a prediction, which in turn
became the golden rule known as Moore's Law.
Moore's Law implies that computers, machines that run on computers, and computing power all
become smaller, faster, and cheaper with time, as transistors on integrated circuits become more
efficient.
Here is a graphic representation for microprocessors

Impact of Moore’s Law on Computing

Moore’s Law has had a direct impact on the progress of computing power. What this means
specifically, is that transistors in integrated circuits have become faster. Transistors conduct
electricity, which contain carbon and silicon molecules that can make the electricity run faster
across the circuit. The faster the integrated circuit conducts electricity, the faster the computer
operates.

Is Moore’s Law Coming to an End?

The electronic industry for computers grows hand-in-hand with the decrease in size of the
integrated circuits. This miniaturization is necessary to increase computational power, that is, the
number of floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) a computer can perform. In 1950’s,
electronic computers were capable of performing approximately 103 FLOPS while present
supercomputers have a power greater than 1013 FLOPS. According to Moore’s law, the number
of transistors that may be placed on a single integrated circuit chip doubles approximately every
18 – 24 months. The present limit is approximately 108 transistors per chip and the typical size
of circuit components is of the order of 100 nano meters. That means, we have reached the
atomic size for storing a single bit of information and quantum effects have become unavoidably
dominant.

Taking all these factors into consideration, it is necessary to look for alternative ways of
computing outside of the electrons and silicon transistors. One such alternative is quantum
computing.

Quantum computers are based on quantum bits (qubits) and use quantum effects like
superposition and entanglement to their benefit, hence overcoming the miniaturization problems
of classical computing.
 Comparison of Classical and Quantum Computing

Classical computing relies on principles of Boolean algebra. Data must be processed in an

exclusive binary state at any point in time; either 0 (off / false) or 1 (on / true). The millions of
transistors and capacitors at the heart of computers can only be in one state at any point. In
addition, there is still a limit as to how quickly these devices can be made to switch states. As we
progress to smaller and faster circuits, we begin to reach the physical limits of materials and the
limitations for classical laws of physics to apply

The quantum computer operates with a two-mode logic gate. In a quantum computer, a number
of elemental particles such as electrons or photons can be used. Each particle is given a charge
or polarization, acting as a representation of 0 and/or 1. Each particle is called a quantum bit, or
qubit. The nature and behaviour of these particles form the basis of quantum computing. The
two most relevant aspects of quantum physics are the principles of superposition and
entanglement.

Differences between classical and quantum computing

Comparison key Classical computer Quantum computer

Large scale multipurpose computer High speed computer based on
Basis of computing
based on classical physics quantum mechanics
Quantum bit-based information
Information Bit-based information storage using
storage using electron spin or
storage voltage/charge
polarization
Qubits have a value of 0, 1 or
Bits having a value of either 0 or 1 can sometimes linear combination of
Bit values
have a single value at any instant both, (a property known as
superposition)
The number of possible states is
Number of The number of possible states is 2 infinite since it can hold
possible states which is either 0 or 1 combinations of 0 or 1 along with
some complex information
Deterministic (repetition of Probabilistic (repetition of
Output computation on the same input gives computation on superposed states
the gives probabilistic answer)
same output)
Gates used for Quantum gates (X, Y, Z, H, CNOT
Logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, etc.)
processing etc.)
Operations use linear algebra and
Operations Operations use Boolean Algebra are represented with unitary
matrices
Circuits implemented in
Circuit implemented in macroscopic
Circuit microscopic technologies (e.g.
technologies (e.g. CMOS) that are fast
implementation nuclear magnetic resonance) that
and scalable
are slow and delicate
Concept of qubit and its properties

From bits to qubit

Bit: A digital computer stores and processes information using bits, which can be either 0 or 1.
Physically, a bit can be anything that has two distinct configurations: one represented by “0”,
and the other represented by “1”. It could be a light bulb that is on or off, a coin that is heads or
tails, or any other system with two distinct and distinguishable possibilities. In modern
computing and communications, bits are represented by the absence or presence of an
electrical signal, encoding “0” and “1” respectively

Qubit is the physical carrier of quantum information. It is the quantum version of a bit, and its
quantum state can be written in terms of two levels, labelled |0⟩ and |1⟩. | ⟩ this notation is
known as ‘ket’ notation and  | is known as ‘brac’ notation. Both are together called as Dirac
notations ‘Ket’ is analogous to a column vector.
They are also called basis vectors and represented by two-dimensional column vectors as follows
1 0
⟩ ⟩
|0 = [ ] |1 = [ ]
1
0

The qubit can be in any one of the two states as well as in the superposed state simultaneously

In quantum computation two distinguishable states of a system are needed to represent a bit of
data. For example, two states of an electron orbiting a single atom is shown in the following
figure. Spin up is taken as |1⟩ and spin down is taken as |0⟩. Similarly ground state energy
level is |0⟩ and excited state level is |1⟩

Excited level
|0⟩ |1⟩

Ground level

Qubit represented by two electronic levels in an atom

This is the abstract notion of a qubit. The quantum computers actually use a physical type of
qubit called a superconducting qubit is made from superconducting materials (of course, there
are other approaches also to build the qubits)

NOTE:
In quantum computing the vectors are members of complex vector space . Each member
of this space is represented as column vector of n dimensions with single 1 at the location
corresponding to a particular basis vector.
It is as follows
1 0 0 0
𝖥01 𝖥11 𝖥01 𝖥01
I I I I I I I I
|0⟩ = I . I |1⟩ = I . I |2⟩ = I . I … …. |𝑁 − 1⟩ = I0. I
0 0 1
I. I. I. I.I
I I I [1]
[0] [0] [0]
 Complex vector space is a vector space which contains complex numbers
 Here we use only two dimensions (or only two sets). Hence we write as
1 0
⟩ ⟩
|0 = [ ] |1 = [ ]
1
0

Superposition of two states

The difference between qubits and classical bits is that a qubit can be in a linear combination
(superposition) of the two states |0⟩ and |1⟩. For ex, if  and  are the probability amplitudes of
electron in ground state (ie, in |0⟩ state) and in excited state (ie, in |1⟩ state) then the linear
combination of two states is
|ψ⟩ = α |0⟩ + β|1⟩
The numbers α and β are complex but due to normalization conditions

|𝖺|2 + |𝛽|2 = 1.

Here |𝖺|2is the probability of finding |𝜓⟩ in state |0⟩ and |𝛽|2is the probability of finding |𝜓⟩ in
state |1⟩. So, we have to keep in mind that when a qubit is measured, it only gives either ‘0’ or
‘1’ as the measurement result – probabilistically

Consider the following example of qubit representation

1 1
|Ψ⟩ = |0⟩ + |1⟩
√2 √2
11
∴𝖺=𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝛽 =
√2√2
|𝖺|2 = |𝛽|2 = 1
2
This means that with 50% probability the qubit will be found in |0⟩ state as well as in |1⟩ state.
The superposed states are also called as space states where as |0⟩ and |1⟩ are called basis
states.

Properties of qubits

1. Qubits make use of discrete energy state particles such as electrons and photons
2. Qubits exists in two quantum state |0⟩ and |1⟩ or in a linear combination of both states. This
is known as superposition. This property allows for exponentially many logical states at
once (and no classical computer can achieve it)
3. Unlike classical bits, qubit can work with the overlap of both 0 & 1 states. For ex, a 4-bit
register1 can store one number from 0 to 15 (because of 2n = 24=16), but 4-qubit register can
store all 16 numbers
4. When the qubit is measured, it collapses to one of the two basis states |0⟩ or |1⟩
5. Quantum entanglement and quantum tunnelling are two exclusive properties of qubit
6. State of the qubits is represented using Bloch sphere

1
Register – is a group of flip-flops. Its basic function is to hold information within a digital system so as to
make it available to the logic units during the computing process. However, a register may also have
additional capabilities associated with it.
 After studying the physics of qubits it is now time to look at the mathematics of qubits. Let us
start with the representation of qubit using Bloch sphere in a vector space. Later on we proceed
towards single qubit, multi qubit, tensor operation, operators and matrix representation

NOTE: Vector space is a set of elements (or vectors) which are added together or multiplied by real numbers.
Addition of two vectors or multiplication of a vector by a scalar is satisfied here. It should not be confused with
vector field

Bloch sphere
Bloch sphere is an imaginary sphere which is used to represent pure single-qubit states as a point
on its surface. It has unit radius. Its North Pole and South Pole are selected to represent the basis
states namely |0⟩ and |1⟩. North Pole represents |0⟩ (say spin up) and South Pole represents |1⟩
(say spin down ). All other points on the sphere represent superposed states (ie, state space).
Bloch sphere allows the state of a qubit to be represented in spherical coordinates (ie, r,  and ).
It is as follows

The state qubit |ψ⟩ on the Bloch sphere makes an angle  with z-axis and its projection (azimuth)
makes angle  with x-axis as shown. It is clear from the fig that 0 <  <  and 0 <  < 2. |ψ⟩ is
represented as
|ψ⟩ = α |0⟩ + β|1⟩
It can be proved that
|Ψ⟩ 𝜃 𝜃
= 𝑐𝑜𝑠 |0⟩ + 𝑒 𝑖𝜙 𝑠𝑖𝑛 |1⟩ − − − (1)
2 2

Using this equation we can represent |ψ⟩ for different  and  as follows

Case-1: let  = 0 and  = 0, then eq (1) becomes

|Ψ⟩ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 0|0⟩ + 𝑒𝑖0𝑠𝑖𝑛0|1⟩ = |0⟩ + 0

∴ |Ψ⟩ = |0⟩

Case-2: let  =  and  = 0, then eq (1) becomes

𝜋 𝜋
|Ψ⟩ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 |0⟩ + 𝑒 𝑖0 𝑠𝑖𝑛 |1⟩ = 0 + |1⟩
2 2
 ∴ |Ψ⟩ = |1⟩

Case-3: let  = /2 and  = 0, then eq (1) becomes

𝜋 𝜋
|Ψ⟩ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 |0⟩ + 𝑒 𝑖0 𝑠𝑖𝑛 |1⟩
4 4
1 1
|Ψ⟩ = |0⟩ + |1⟩
√2 √2
|0⟩ + |1⟩
|Ψ⟩ =
√2

Case-4: let  = /2 and  = , then eq (1) becomes

𝜋 𝜋
|Ψ⟩ = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 |0⟩ + 𝑒 𝑖𝜋 𝑠𝑖𝑛 |1⟩
4 4
1 1
|Ψ⟩ = |0⟩ − |1⟩
√2 √2
|0⟩ − |1⟩
|Ψ⟩ =
√2
In the above discussion we have represented only single qubit state. Bloch sphere is a nice
visualization of single qubit states.

Multiple Qubits

Single qubits are interesting, but individually they offer no computational advantage. We will now
look at how to represent multiple qubits, and how these qubits can interact with each other.

Two qubits

Consider two qubits. They can be in any one of four possible states represented as |00⟩, |01⟩, |10⟩ and
|11⟩. The interaction among these qubits is described by creating a new vector space2 using a special
kind of operation called tensor product or Kronecker product. It is as follows

Let U and V are two 2-d vectors given as

𝑥1 𝑥2
𝑈 = [𝑦 ] , 𝑉 = [𝑦 ]
1 2

Their tensor product is

𝑥2
𝑥1 [𝑦 ]
𝑥2 ]
2
𝑈⊗𝑉=[
𝑦 1 [𝑦 ]
2

2
Vector space is a set of elements (or vectors) which are added together or multiplied by real numbers or scalars.
Addition of two vectors or multiplication of a vector by a scalar is satisfied here. It should not be confused with vector
field
 𝑥1𝑥2
𝑥1𝑦2
𝑈⊗𝑉=[ ]
𝑦1 2
𝑦1𝑦2

Based on this we can write |00⟩ as follows

1] 1
|0⟩ ⊗ |0⟩ = [ 1 0 0
[ ]=[ ]
0 [10] 0
0

Sometimes we avoid the symbol  and write directly as

1
0
|00⟩ = [ ]
0
0
Similarly
0 0 0
|01⟩ = [1] |10⟩ = [0] and |11⟩ = [0]
0 1 0
0 0 1

The state qubit is (ie, linear combination of these four)

|⟩ = 00|00⟩ + 01|01⟩ + 10|10⟩ + 11|11⟩

For 2 qubit system we have 4 complex amplitudes namely 00, 01, 10 and 11. According to
normalization condition

|𝛼00|2 + |𝛼01|2 + |𝛼10|2 + |𝛼11|2 = 1

Similarly if there are 3 qubits there will be 8 complex amplitudes and in general for n qubits we will
have 2n complex amplitudes. This means that a basis state is represented by a number 0 to 2n-1. The
superposition state is represented as
𝟐𝒏−𝟏
|⟩ = ∑ 𝖺𝒙 |x⟩
𝒙=𝟎

Qubit has two quantum states similar to the classical binary states. The qubit can be in any one of the
two states as well as in the superposed state simultaneously.

Dirac representation and Matrix operations

Matrix representation of 0 and 1 states

In Quantum mechanics, Brac-Ket notation is a standard notation for describing quantum states. The
notation | ⟩ is known as ‘ket’ notation and  | is known as ‘brac’ notation. Both are together called as
Dirac notations.
The ‘ket’ vector typically represented as a column vector and ‘brac’ vector typically represented as a
row vector as follows
1 0
⟩ ⟩
|0 = [ ] |1 = [ ] − − − − − −ket notations 1
0
⟨0| = [1 0] ⟨1| = [0 1] − − − − − brac notations

Hence, any arbitrary state can be represented as

𝛼
|ψ > = [𝛽] 𝑜𝑟 |ψ⟩ = α |0⟩ + β |1⟩

Some of the properties of these notations are

i. Addition of two kets gives another ket (commutative)

|Α⟩ + |𝐵⟩ = |𝐶⟩ = |𝐵⟩ + |𝐴⟩

ii. Addition of kets obeys associative property

|Α⟩ + (|𝐵⟩ + |𝐶⟩) = (|𝐴⟩ + |𝐵⟩) + |𝐶⟩

iii. If c1 and c2 are scalars or a complex numbers and |A ⟩ is a ket then

(𝑐1 + 𝑐2)|𝐴⟩ = 𝑐1|𝐴⟩ + 𝑐2|𝐴⟩

iv. In a complex vector space for every ket there is unique brac. Brac is the Hermitian
conjugate of the ket.
𝐴
If |𝐴⟩ = [ 1] then ⟨𝐴| = [𝐴∗ 𝐴∗ ]
𝐴2 1 2

v. Bracs are useful in calculating probability amplitudes.

For ex, the probability amplitude of |1 is  which can be calculated as follows

⟨1||Ψ⟩ = ⟨1|α |0⟩ + ⟨1|β |1⟩

⟨1||Ψ⟩ = α⟨1| |0⟩ + β ⟨1||1⟩
1 0
⟨1||Ψ⟩ = α[0 1] [ ] + 𝛽[0 1] [ ]
0 1
⟨1|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼 × 0 + 𝛽 × 1
⟨1|Ψ⟩ = 𝛽
Similarly
⟨0|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼

vi. If U| and V| are two bracs then

 Will be discussed later

 ⟨𝑈| + ⟨𝑉| = ⟨𝑈 + 𝑉|

Operators and matrices

An operator is a mathematical rule that transform a given function into another function.
Ex:
i.
√4 = 2. Here  is a square root operator. It transforms 4 to 2
𝑑
ii. 𝐷 = is a differentiate operator. It transforms 2x3 to 6x2
𝑑𝑥

Similar to this we have the following example. In this case operator ‘A’ transforms the vector |𝑎⟩
to another vector |𝑏⟩

𝐴̂|𝑎⟩ = |𝑏⟩

There are different types of operators like Linear operator, Identity operator, Null operator, Inverse
operator, Singular & non-singular operator etc.

Identity operator ‘I’

The identity operator is an operator which, operating on a function, leaves the function unchanged
i.e.
𝐼 |𝑎⟩ = |𝑎⟩
It is given in matrix form by
1 0
𝐼=[ ]
0 1

This is also called as identity matrix. There will be no change when I operates on either |0⟩ state
or |1⟩ state. It is explained as follows
1 0 1 1
𝐼 |0⟩ = [ ] ]=[
0 1 0[ 0 ]
∴ 𝐼 |0⟩ = |0⟩
Similarly
1 0 0 0
𝐼 |1⟩ = [
] [ ] = [ 1]
0 1 1
∴ 𝐼 |1⟩ = |1⟩

Identity matrix acts as number 1. It is always a square matrix.

Conjugate matrices

If the elements in a matrix A are complex numbers, then the matrix obtained by the
corresponding conjugate complex elements is called the conjugate of A and is denoted by 𝐴∗.
For ex
 0 𝑖 0 −𝑖
If 𝐴 = [ ] then
−𝑖 0 𝐴 =[ ]
∗ 𝑖 0

If 𝐴 = [ 𝑖 2𝑖 + 1 ∗ −𝑖 −2𝑖 + 1
] then 𝐴 = [ ]
−𝑖 1 𝑖 1
1 2𝑖 1 −2𝑖
If 𝐴 = [ ] then 𝐴∗ = [ ]
4𝑖 + 1 0 −4𝑖 + 1 0
1 𝑖
If 𝐴 = [ ∗ 1 −𝑖
] then 𝐴 = [ ]
−𝑖 1 𝑖 1
Transpose matrices

If columns and rows of a matrix A are interchanged then the resultant matrix is transpose of A and
represented as AT. For ex,
0 1 0 −𝑖
If 𝐴 = [ ] then 𝐴𝑇 = [ ]
−𝑖 0 1 0
1 0
If 𝐴 = [ 𝑇 1 −2
] then 𝐴 = [ ]
−2 1 0 1
1 2𝑖 1 4𝑖 + 1
If 𝐴 = [ ] then 𝐴𝑇 = [ ]
4𝑖 + 1 0 2𝑖 0

Hermitian matrices

The transpose of complex conjugate of a matrix is known as Hermitian operator (also called as
adjoint operator) and the resultant matrix is known as Hermitian matrix. It is represented by 𝐴†

Let A be a matrix, A* be its complex conjugate and 𝐴∗𝑇 is its transpose then its Hermitian matrix is

𝐴† = 𝐴∗𝑇
Ex: 1 2𝑖 1 −2𝑖
If 𝐴 = [ ] then 𝐴∗ = [ ]
4𝑖 + 1 0 −4𝑖 + 1 0
1 −4𝑖 + 1
𝐴† = [−2𝑖 0 ]

Unitary matrices

Matrix A is said to be unitary if it produces an identity matrix I when multiplied by its conjugate
transpose
𝐴𝐴† = 𝐼

In other words, A is a unitary matrix if its conjugate transpose is equal to its reciprocal, ie
𝐼 1
𝐴† = = = 𝐴−1
𝐴 𝐴
 1 1+𝑖 1−𝑖
we can show that 𝐴 = [ ] is a unitary matrix
2 1−𝑖 1+𝑖

Inner product

Introduction

Let 𝑈 = 𝑥1𝑖 + 𝑦1𝑗 + 𝑧1𝑘 and 𝑉 = 𝑥2𝑖 + 𝑦2𝑗 + 𝑧2𝑘 be the two vectors in real space then their dot
product is
𝑈. 𝑉 = 𝑥1𝑥2 + 𝑦1𝑦2 + 𝑧1𝑧2
If U = V then 𝑈. 𝑈 = |𝑈|2 = 𝑥2 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥2
1 2 3
The length of the resultant vector is |𝑈| = √𝑈. 𝑈 = √𝑥2 + 𝑦2 + 𝑧2
1 1 1

In matrix form U and V are written as

𝑥1 𝑥2
𝑈 = [𝑦1] and V = [𝑦2]
𝑧1 𝑧2

And the dot product is written as

𝑥2
𝑈. 𝑉 = [𝑥1𝑦1𝑧1] [𝑦2] = 𝑈𝑇𝑉
𝑧2

This dot product is also called as inner product. In real space inner product is same as dot product of
two vectors and it finally gives a scalar quantity.

In quantum computing the vectors are the members of complex space and the inner product gives a
complex number

Definition of inner product

The inner product of two vectors U and V in the complex space is a function that takes U and V
as inputs and produces a complex number as output

In terms of Dirac notation, the inner product is given as

⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = 𝑐
𝑥1 𝑥2
Let |𝑈⟩ = [ ] and|𝑉⟩ = [ ] be the two vectors. Their inner product is written as ⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩
𝑦1 𝑦2

But ⟨𝑈| is equal to conjugate transpose of |𝑈⟩

𝑖𝑒, ⟨𝑈| = |𝑈∗⟩−1 = |𝑈⟩† = [𝑥∗ 𝑦∗]

1 1
𝑥2
𝑦∗]⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = [𝑥∗
∴ ∗ ∗

1 1 [𝑦 ] = 𝑥1𝑥2 + 𝑦1 𝑦2
2
The square root of the inner product of a vector with itself is also called as norm or the length of the
vector. It is given by
|𝑈| = √〈𝑈|𝑈〉
𝟑+𝒊 𝟑𝒊
𝐄𝐱: 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟|𝑼⟩ = [ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 |𝑽
𝒊 ⟩
𝟒−
First we shall find the conjugate transpose of |𝑈⟩
|𝑈∗⟩ 3−𝑖
=[ ]
4+𝑖
|𝑈⟩† = [3 − 𝑖 4 + 𝑖]
∴ ⟨𝑈| = |𝑈⟩† = [3 − 𝑖 4 + 𝑖]
⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = [3 − 𝑖 4 + 𝑖] [3𝑖]
4
⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = (3 − 𝑖) × 3𝑖 + (4 + 𝑖) × 4
⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = 9𝑖 + 3 + 16 + 4𝑖
⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = 13𝑖 + 19

𝒂
𝐄𝐱: 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 |𝑨⟩ = [ ] 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇
𝒊𝒃

First we shall find the conjugate transpose of |A

𝑎
|𝐴∗⟩ = [ ]
−𝑖𝑏
†
|𝑈⟩ = [𝑎 −𝑖𝑏]
∴ ⟨𝐴| = [𝑎 −𝑖𝑏]
𝑎
⟨𝐴|𝐴⟩ = [𝑎 −𝑖𝑏] [ ]
�
⟨𝐴|𝐴⟩ = 𝑎2 + (−𝑖𝑏)(𝑖𝑏)
⟨𝐴|𝐴⟩ = 𝑎2 + 𝑏2

𝟏−𝒊
𝐄𝐱: 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 |𝑼⟩ = [
𝟐 ]

|𝑈| = √〈𝑈|𝑈〉
|𝑈| = √[1 + 𝑖 2] [1 − 𝑖]
2
|𝑈| = √(1 + 𝑖)(1 − 𝑖) + 2 × 2 = √1 + 1 + 4 = √6

Orthogonality

If the inner product of two vectors is equal to 0 then they are said to be orthogonal (or perpendicular)
to each other
If ⟨𝑈|𝑉⟩ = 0 then |𝑈⟩ and |𝑉⟩ are perpendicular.

Consider,
1 0
⟩ ⟩
|0 = [ ] |1 = [ ]
1
0
Then
0
⟨0|1⟩ = [1 0] [ ] = 0
1

Hence |0⟩ is perpendicular to |1⟩

The most important property of the inner product of a vector with itself is equal to

one ie, ⟨𝜓|𝜓⟩ = 1

This is known as normalization condition. The physical significance of normalization is that the
"probability amplitude" of the quantum system is1

Orthonormality

If each element of a set of vectors is normalized and the elements are orthogonal with respect to each
other, we say the set is orthonormal (ortho + normalization = orthonormalization)

Consider the set

1 0
⟩ ⟩
|0 = [ ] |1 = [ ]
1
0
1
⟨0|0⟩ = [1 0] [ ] =1+0=1 normalized
0
0
⟨0|1⟩ = [1 0] [ ] =0+0=0 orthogonal
1
0
⟨1|1⟩ = [0 1] [ ] =0+1=1 normalized
1
1
⟨1|0⟩ = [0 ]
1 [ ] =0+0=0 orthogonal
0

Hence set of |0 and |1 is orthonormal

Pauli Matrices

These are the 2 × 2 complex matrices introduced by Pauli in order to account for the interaction of
the spin with an external electromagnetic field. They are given by

0 1
𝜎1 = 𝜎𝑗 = 𝑋 = [
]
1 0
0 −𝑖
𝜎 =𝜎 =𝑌= [ ]
2 𝑘 𝑖 0
1 0
𝜎 =𝜎 =𝑍= [ ]
3 0 −1
NOTE: X, Y and Z are also called as X – gate, Y- gate and Z- gate
Properties of Pauli matrices

The most important property of Pauli matrices is that square of all the three matrices gives
an identity matrix I. For ex,

2 0 1 0 1 1 0
𝜎1 = [ ][ ]=[ ]
1 0 1 0 0 1
∴ 𝜎2 = 𝐼
1
In general
𝜎𝜎 = 1 †
1
𝜎† = = 𝜎−1
𝜎
So, they are unitary

Another property of Pauli matrices is that they are Hermitian. Let A be a matrix, A* be its complex
conjugate and 𝐴† 3 is its transpose. If A = 𝐴†then the matrix is Hermitian. For ex,
0 −𝑖
𝜎 =[ ]
2 𝑖 0
0 𝑖
𝜎 ∗
=[ ]
2 −𝑖 0
0 −𝑖
𝜎 †
=[ ]
2 𝑖 0
∴ 𝜎2† = 𝜎2

Operation of Pauli Matrices on 0 and 1 states

Three Pauli matrices X, Y and Z act on basis states |0 and |1 as follows

i. X operating on |0 and |1

0 1 1 0
𝑋|0⟩ = [ ⟩
1 0 ]0 ] 1 ]=
0 1 0 1
𝑋|1⟩ = [ ⟩
1 0 ]1 ] 0 ]=

Since X inverts each input (ie, |0 becomes |1 and |1 becomes|0) it is also called as bit-flip gate
If a superposed qubit goes through X gate, the result will be
0 1 𝛼 𝛽
𝑋|Ψ⟩ = [ ⟩ ⟩
] [ ] = [ ] = 𝛼|1 + 𝛽|0
1 0 � 𝛼
So,
𝑋|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩

3
Transpose means convert rows into column and columns into row
 ii. Y operating on |0 and |1

⟩ 0 −𝑖 1 0 × 1 + (−𝑖) × 0 0+0 0 0
𝑌|0 = [ ][ ]=[ 𝑖×1+0×0 ]=[ ] = [ ] = 𝑖 [ ] = 𝑖|1 ⟩
𝑖 0 0 𝑖+0 1
𝑌|1 = [ 0 −𝑖 ] [0 ] = [0 × 0 + (−𝑖) × 1 ] = [ 0 − 𝑖 ] = [ −𝑖 1
⟩ 𝑖 ] = −𝑖 [ 0] = −𝑖|0 ⟩
0 1 𝑖×0+0×1 0+0
So, 0
𝑌|0⟩ = 𝑖|1⟩
Similarly
𝑌|1⟩ = −𝑖|0⟩

If a superposed qubit goes through Y gate, the result will be

0 −𝑖 𝛼 0 × 𝛼 + (−𝑖) × 𝛽 −𝑖𝛽
𝑌|Ψ⟩ = [ ] = [ ] = −𝑖𝛽|0⟩ + 𝑖𝛼|1⟩
][ ]= [ 𝑖×𝛼+0×𝛽 𝑖𝛼
𝑖 0 𝛽
So,
𝑌|Ψ⟩ = 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩

iii. Z operating on |0 and |1

⟩ 1 0 ] [1 ] = [ 1 × 1 + 0 × 0 ] = [ 1 + 0 1
𝑍|0 = 0 × 1 + (−1) × 0 ] = [ ] = |0 ⟩
[
0 −1 0 0+0 0

𝑍|1 = [1 0 ] [0] = [ 1 × 0 + 0 × 1 ] = [0 + 0] = [ 0 ] = − [ 0 ] = −|1⟩

⟩ 0 −1 1 0 × 0 + (−1) × 1 0−0 −1 11
So,
𝑍|0⟩ = |0⟩

𝑍|1⟩ = −|1⟩

If a superposed qubit goes through Z gate, the result will be

𝑍|Ψ = [1 0 ] [𝛼] = [ 1 × 𝛼 + 0 × 𝛽 𝛼
] = [ ] = 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩
⟩ 0 −1 𝛽 0 × 𝛼 + (−1) × 𝛽 −𝛽
So,
𝑍|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩

This is also called phase-flip gate

The truth tables for X, Y and Z gates are as follows

X- gate Y-gate Z-gate

Input Output Input Output Input Output
|0⟩ |1⟩ |0⟩ 𝑖|1⟩ |0⟩ |0⟩
|1⟩ |0⟩ |1⟩ −𝑖|0⟩ |1⟩ −|1⟩
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩
Symbolically these gates are represented as follows

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩
X 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩

Y
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩

Z
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩

Limitation of Pauli matrices or Pauli gates

Using only the Pauli-gates it is impossible to move our initialized qubit to any state other than |0⟩ or |1⟩,
i.e. we cannot achieve superposition. This means we can see no behaviour different to that of a
classical bit. To create more interesting states we need more gates

Quantum Gates
In classical computers gates are a small set of circuit elements that are used to implement the
combination of binary variables 0’s and 1’s. Most commonly known gates are AND gate, OR gate
and NOT gate.

A quantum gate, a counterpart of classical gate, is a very simple computing device that performs
quantum operation on qubits. Quantum gates are one of the essential parts of a quantum computer
and are the building blocks of all quantum algorithms.

Quantum gates are mathematically represented as transformation matrices that are unitary and the
operations performed by these gates are reversible. Each unitary transformation U has inverse
transformation 𝑈† so that
𝑈𝑈† = 𝐼
𝐼 1
𝑈† = = = 𝑈−1
𝑈 𝑈

Now, the basic question is that why quantum gates shall be unitary in nature? It can be explained as
follows
A fundamental property of qubits is that they are restricted by the normalization condition, i.e. sum of
amplitudes square is equal 1.
𝑖𝑒, |𝖺|2 + |𝛽|2 = 1
Quantum gates operate on set of qubits and transform them to another quantum state. These
operations must preserve the normalization throughout the whole process. The only possible
operation for this purpose is unitary matrices. Hence the quantum gates are inevitably unitary

Another important feature of quantum gate is that they are always reversible. The outputs can be
calculated from inputs and inputs can be retrieved from outputs. This is because all unitary matrices
are reversible as explained earlier

Note:
1. If the product of a number and its reciprocal is equal to 1, then the number is reversible. For
ex
1
2× =1
2
There are different types of quantum gates. Single-qubit gates can flip a qubit from 0 to 1 as well as
allowing superposition states to be created. Two-qubit gates allow the qubits to interact with each
other and can be used to create quantum entanglement (a strange phenomenon that can’t be
explained by classical physics).

Some of the important single qubit gates are discussed here. They all are represented by 2 × 2 matrix.
(Note that X, Y and Z gates are already discussed earlier under the heading Pauli’s matrices. So, it is
a sort of repetition)

Single qubit gates

1. X – Gate

This is also called as Pauli X – gate. It is given by

0 1
𝑋= [
1 0]

When X operates on |0 and |1 the output will be inverted (ie, |0 becomes |1 and |1 becomes|0)
0 1 1 0
𝑋|0⟩ = [ ⟩
1 0 ]0 ] 1 ]=
0 1 0 1
𝑋|1⟩ = [ ⟩
1 0 ]1 ] 0 ]=

Since X inverts each input it is also called as bit-flip gate. If a superposed qubit goes through X gate,
the result will be
0 1 𝛼 𝛽
𝑋|Ψ⟩ = [ ⟩ ⟩
] [ ] = [ ] = 𝛼|1 + 𝛽|0
1 0 � 𝛼
So,
𝑋|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩

Symbolically these gates are represented as follows

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩
X 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩

2. Y – Gate

This is also called as Pauli Y – gate. It is given by

0 −𝑖
𝑌= [ ]
𝑖 0

When Y operates on |0 and |1

 0 −𝑖 1 0 × 1 + (−𝑖) × 0 0 0
𝑌|0⟩ = [ ][ ]=[ 𝑖×1+0×0 ] = [ ] = 𝑖 [ ] = 𝑖|1 ⟩
𝑖 0 0 � 1

⟩ 0 −𝑖 0 0 × 0 + (−𝑖) × 1 −𝑖 1
𝑌|1 = [ ][ ]=[ 𝑖×0+0×1 ] = [ ] = −𝑖 [ ] = −𝑖|0 ⟩
𝑖 0 1 0 0
So,
𝑌|0⟩ = 𝑖|1⟩ and 𝑌|1⟩ = −𝑖|0⟩

If a superposed qubit goes through Y gate, the result will be

0 −𝑖 𝛼 0 × 𝛼 + (−𝑖) × 𝛽 −𝑖𝛽
𝑌|Ψ⟩ = [ ] = [ ] = −𝑖𝛽|0⟩ + 𝑖𝛼|1⟩
][ ]= [ 𝑖×𝛼+0×𝛽 𝑖𝛼
𝑖 0 𝛽
So,
𝑌|Ψ⟩ = 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩

Symbolically these gates are represented as follows

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩
Y 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩

3. Z – Gate

This is also called as Pauli Z – gate. It is given by

1 0
𝑍= [ ]
0 −1

When Z operates on |0 and |1 the phase will change. Hence this is also called as phase-flip gate

⟩ 1 0 ] [1 ] = [ 1 × 1 + 0 × 0 ] = [ 1
𝑍|0 = 0 × 1 + (−1) × 0 ] = |0 ⟩
[
0 −1 0 0
1×0+0×1 ]=[ 0 0
𝑍|1 = [10 0 0
−1 ] [1] = [ 0 × 0 + (−1) × 1
⟩
⟩ ] = − [ ] = −|1
So, −1 1

𝑍|0⟩ = |0⟩ and 𝑍|1⟩ = −|

1⟩

If a superposed qubit goes through Z gate, the result will be

𝑍|Ψ = [1 0 ] [𝛼] = [ 1 × 𝛼 + 0 × 𝛽 𝛼
] = [ ] = 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩
⟩ 0 −1 𝛽 0 × 𝛼 + (−1) × 𝛽 −𝛽
So,
𝑍|Ψ⟩ = 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩

Symbolically these gates are represented as follows

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩
Z 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩
The truth tables for X, Y and Z gates are as follows
X- gate Y-gate Z-gate
Input Output Input Output Input Output
|0⟩ |1⟩ |0⟩ 𝑖|1⟩ |0⟩ |0⟩
|1⟩ |0⟩ |1⟩ −𝑖|0⟩ |1⟩ −|1⟩
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|1⟩ + 𝛽|0⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝑖𝛼|1⟩−𝑖𝛽|0⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ − 𝛽|1⟩

4. Hadamard Gate – The gate to superposition

The Hadamard Gate is a well-known gate that brings a qubit into a superposition state. Similar to the
Pauli-X gate, the Hadamard Gate acts on a single qubit, and can be represented by a 2 x 2 matrix as
follows

Hadamard gate brings a qubit in superposition

1
(11
𝐻= 1
−1 )
√
2

Let us find out what happens when Hadamard gate operates on a qubit that is in the |0⟩ state.

1 1 1 1 1 1×1+1×0 1 1
𝐻|0⟩ = ( ) [ ]= [ ]= [ ]
√2 1 −1 0 √2 1 × 1 + −1 × 0 √2 1
1 1 1 |0⟩ + |1⟩
𝐻|0⟩ = ]= (|0⟩ + |1⟩) =
√ [1
√2 √2
2
|0⟩ + |1⟩
𝐻|0⟩ = − − − (1)
√2
Let us find out what happens when Hadamard gate operates on a qubit that is in the |1⟩ state.

1 1 1 0 1 1×0+1×1 1 1
𝐻|1⟩ = ( ) [ ]= [ ]= [ ]
√2 1 −1 1 √2 1 × 0 + −1 × 1 √2 −1
1 1 1 |0⟩ − |1⟩
𝐻|1⟩ = [
]= (|0⟩ − |1⟩) =
√2 −1 √2 √2
|0⟩ − |1⟩
𝐻|1⟩ = − − − (2)
√2

If a superposed qubit goes through H gate, the result will be

1 1 1 𝛼 1 11××𝛼𝛼++−1
1 ××𝛽𝛽 1 𝛼𝛼 −
+ 𝛽𝛽
𝐻|𝜓⟩ = ( ) [𝛽] = [ ]= [ ]
√2 1 −1 √2 √2
 𝐻|𝜓⟩ = 𝛼 + 𝛼−
𝛽 |0⟩ + 𝛽 |1⟩
√2 √2
|0⟩ + |1⟩ |0⟩ − |1⟩
𝐻|𝜓⟩ = +𝛽 − − − (3)
𝛼 √ √
2 2

The above equations shows that, after applying the Hadamard gate to a qubit that are in |0⟩ & |1⟩
states enter a new superposed states. This is the major difference between X, Y, Z and H gates. In X,
Y and Z gates we get only single state whereas in H gate we get superposed state.

The probability of measuring 0 and 1 is

1 2 1 2 1
( ) +( ) =
√2 √2 2

The truth table is as follows

INPUT OUTPUT
|0⟩ + |1⟩
|0⟩
√2
|0⟩ − |1⟩
|1⟩
√2
|0⟩ + |1⟩ |0⟩ − |1⟩
|𝜓⟩ = 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼 +𝛽
√2 √2

The circuit symbol is as follows

H
|0⟩ + |1⟩ |0⟩ − |1⟩
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼 +𝛽
√ √
5. Phase Gate (S Gate)

The Phase gate or S gate is a gate that transfers |0⟩ into |0⟩ and |1⟩ into 𝑖|1⟩. It is represented as
1 0
𝑆=[
0 𝑖 ]

If we apply S gate to a state |0⟩ it will remain same

1 0 1
𝑆|0⟩ = [ 1(1) + 0(0) 1
] [ ] = [ ] = [ ]
0 𝑖 0(1) + 𝑖(0) 0
0
𝑆|0⟩ = |0⟩

If we apply S gate to a state |1⟩ it will be transformed into 𝑖|1⟩

1 0 0
𝑆|1⟩ = [ 1(0) + 0(1) 0 0
] []= [ ]= [ ]= 𝑖[ ]
0 𝑖 1 0(0) + 𝑖(1) 𝑖 1
 𝑆|1⟩ = 𝑖|1⟩

It transforms the state 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩to the state 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑖𝛽|1⟩

1 0 𝛼 𝛼
𝑆|𝜓⟩ = [ ] [ ] = [𝑖𝛽]
0 𝑖 𝛽
The truth table is as
follows

Input Output
|0⟩ |0⟩
|1⟩ 𝑖|1⟩

|𝜓⟩ = 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑖𝛽|1⟩

The symbol is as follows

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩

6. T- Gate
S 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑖𝛽|1⟩

The T-gate is a very commonly used gate and it is given by

1 0
𝑇=[ 𝑖𝜋 ]
0 𝑒4

If the input is |0⟩ then the output is also |0⟩

1 0 1 1
𝑇|0⟩ = [ 𝑖𝜋] [0 ] = [ 0]
0 𝑒 4

𝑇|0⟩ = |0⟩
𝑖𝜋
If the input is |1⟩ then the output state is 𝑒 4 |1⟩
1 0 0 0
] = 𝑒 4 [0 ]
𝑖𝜋
𝑇|1⟩ = [ 𝑖𝜋 ][ ]= 𝑖𝜋
[
0 𝑒4 1 1
𝑒( 4 )
𝑖𝜋
𝑇|1⟩ = 𝑒 4 |1⟩

It transforms the state 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ to 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑒𝑖𝜋⁄4𝛽|1⟩

1 0 𝛼 𝛼
𝑇|𝜓⟩ = [ 𝑖𝜋] [ ] = [
𝛽
𝑖𝜋]

0 𝑒4 𝛽𝑒 4

The following figure shows quantum T- gate and the table gives the truth table.

𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩
T 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑒𝑖𝜋⁄4𝛽|1⟩
The truth table is as follows

Input Output
|0⟩ |0⟩
𝑖𝜋
|1⟩ 𝑒 4 |1⟩
𝛼|0⟩ + 𝛽|1⟩ 𝛼|0⟩ + 𝑒𝑖𝜋⁄4𝛽|1⟩

Multiple Qubit gates

As mentioned in the earlier section, Single qubits are interesting, but individually they offer less
computational advantage. It is hence essential to look for multiple qubit system and the operation on
them. Quantum gates operating on multiple qubits are called as multiple qubit gates. Some of them
are as follows

1. Controlled Gate (CNOT)

The CNOT gate is a two-qubit operation, where the first qubit is referred as the control qubit (A) and
the second qubit as the target qubit (B). If the control qubit is |1⟩ then it will flip the target qubit
state from|0⟩ to |1⟩ or from |1⟩ to |0⟩. When the control qubit is in state |0⟩ then the target qubit
remains unchanged. In fact CNOT applies X on target whenever its control is in state |1⟩

The symbolic representation is as follows. The upper line represents control qubit and bottom line
represents target qubit

|𝐴⟩ Control Qubit

|𝐵⟩ |𝐵⨁𝐴⟩Target Qubit

In the combined qubit, first term is control qubit and the second term is target qubit. For ex, in |𝐴𝐵⟩,
A is control qubit and B is target qubit

NOTE: In diagram the control qubit is represented by and target is represented by

Discussion for 4 different input states

1. Input state |00⟩ (Control qubit = 0, Target qubit = 0): Both the bits remain unaltered. Hence,
the output state is the same as the input state or |00⟩ → |00⟩
2. Input state |01⟩ (Control qubit = 0, Target qubit = 1): Both the bits remain unaltered. Again,
the output state is the same as the input state or |01⟩ → |01⟩
3. Input state |10⟩ (Control qubit =1, Target qubit = 0): The target qubit is flipped to 1.
Therefore, the output state has both qubits 1 or |10⟩ → |11⟩
4. Input state |11⟩ (Control qubit =1, Target qubit = 1): The target qubit is flipped to 0.
Therefore, the output state becomes |10⟩ or |11⟩ → |10⟩.
The truth table of a CNOT gate is as follows
Input Output
|00⟩ |00⟩
|01⟩ |01⟩
|10⟩ |11⟩
|11⟩ |10⟩

We know that two qubits can be in any one of four possible states represented as |00⟩ |01⟩|10⟩ and |
11⟩. The matrix form of them are

1 0 0 0
0 1
|00⟩ = [ ] |01⟩ = [ ] 0 0
|10⟩ = [ ] |11⟩ = [ ]
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1

The state qubit is |⟩ = 00|00⟩ + 01|01⟩ + 10|10⟩ + 11|11⟩. When it is operated by CNOT we
get CNOT( 00|00⟩ + 01|01⟩ + 10|10⟩ + 11|11⟩) = 00|00⟩ + 01|01⟩ + 10|11⟩ + 11|10⟩

From this we can construct the matrix form of CNOT gate as follows (it is 4 ×4 matrix)
1
0
The |00⟩remains same as |00⟩. Hence the first column is [ ]
0
0
0
The |01⟩remains same as |01⟩. Hence the second column is [1]
0
0
0 0
0 0
The |10⟩changes to |11⟩. Hence the third column changes from [ ] to [ ]
1 0
0 1
0 0
The |11⟩changes to |10⟩. Hence the fourth column changes from [0] to [0]
0 1
1 0
Hence the matrix form of CNOT gate is

1 0 0 0
𝐶𝑁𝑂𝑇 = [0 1 0 0]
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0

Ex (1) S.T the |00⟩remains same as |00⟩ when operated by CNOT

1 0 0 0 1
CNOT|00⟩ = [0 1 0 0] [0]
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0
1+0+0+0 1
CNOT|00⟩ = [0 + 0 + 0 + 0] = [0]
0+0+0+0 0
0+0+0+0 0
 ∴ CNOT|00⟩ = |00⟩

Ex (2) S.T the |01⟩remains same as |01⟩ when operated by CNOT

1 0 0 0 0
CNOT|01⟩ = [0 1 0 0] [1]
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 0
1+0+0+0 0
CNOT|01⟩ = [0 + 1 + 0 + 0] = [1]
0+0+0+0 0
0+0+0+0 0
∴ CNOT|01⟩ = |01⟩

Ex (3) S.T the |10⟩changes to |11⟩ when operated by CNOT

1 0 0 0 0
CNOT|10⟩ = [0 1 0 0] [0]
0 0 0 1 1
0 0 1 0 0
0+0+0+0 0
CNOT|10⟩ = [ 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 0
]=[ ]
0+0+0+0 0
0+0+1+0 1
∴ CNOT|10⟩ = |11⟩

Ex (4) S.T the |11⟩changes to |10⟩ when operated by CNOT

1 0 0 0 0
CNOT|11⟩ = [0 1 0 0] [0]
0 0 0 1 0
0 0 1 0 1
0+0+0+0 0
CNOT|11⟩ = [ 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 0
]=[ ]
0+0+0+1 1
0+0+0+0 0
∴ CNOT|11⟩ = |10⟩

2. Swap Gate

In quantum computation sometimes we need to move state between two qubits, ie from control to
target and vice versa. This is nothing but swapping of the states and the gate used for this purpose is
known as SWAP gate.

SWAP gate is a two qubit operation gate and swaps the state of the two qubits involved in the
operation. It contains 3 CNOT gates.
The action of SWAP gate is explained by taking two CNOT gates as follows where |10⟩ is swapped to
|01⟩

|1⟩ |1⟩ |0⟩

|1⟩ |0⟩

|10⟩ |10⟩ 01⟩

|01⟩

|0⟩ |1⟩ |1⟩

|0⟩ |1⟩

But for effective swapping of the states there must be minimum of 3 CNOT gates. The SWAP circuit
is as given below

It is also represented as

The matrix form of SWAP gate is given by

1 0 0 0
𝑆𝑊𝐴𝑃 = [0 0 1 0]
0 1 0 0
0 0 0 1

Ex (1) S.T the state |00⟩ remains undisturbed by the SWAP gate operation

Consider the SWAP circuit diagram

We know that in CNOT gate if the control qubit is in |1⟩ state then it will flip the target qubit from |
0 to |1 and vice versa (otherwise no). So, when |00⟩ is given, the 1st CNOT is not satisfied. We stay
in the state |00⟩.The 2nd CNOT's control is not satisfied. We stay in the state |00⟩.The 3rd CNOT' is
also not satisfied. We finally stay in the state |00⟩. The same can be verified using matrix analysis as
follows

1 0 0 0 1 1+0+0+0 1
0 0 1 0] [0] = [0 + 0 + 0 + 0] = [0]
𝑆𝑊𝐴𝑃|00⟩ = [
0 1 0 0 0 0+0+0+0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0+0+0+0 0
∴ 𝑆𝑊𝐴𝑃|00⟩ = |00⟩

Ex (2) S.T the state |10⟩ is swapped to |01⟩ by SWAP gate operation

1 0 0 0 0 0+0+0+0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 + 0 + 1 + 0 1
𝑆𝑊𝐴𝑃|10⟩ = [ ][ ] = [ ]=[ ]
0 1 0 0 1 0+0+0+0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0+0+0+0 0
∴ 𝑆𝑊𝐴𝑃|10⟩ = |01⟩

Truth table of swap gate is as follows

Input Output
|00 |00
|01 |10
|10 |01
|11 |11

3. Controlled-Z Gate

CNOT gate can be extended in a way that it can work on two qubits based upon a single control
qubit. C-Z gate is one such gate. In this gate there is one control qubit and Z unitary matrix as target
qubit. If the control qubit is in state |1 then it acts on target Z and will flip the state (ie, there is 180 0
phase change)

The circuit is represented as follows.

Some of the examples are given below

 |0 | |0 |0 |1 |1 |1 |1
0

|0 |0
|1
Z |1 |0 Z|0 |1
Z -|1
Z Control bit acts on Control bit acts on
No change
No change because control target but there is no target and flip |1 to
because control bit is |0 flip of |0 -|1
bit is |0

The truth table of a controlled-Z gate:

Input Output
|00 |00
|01 |01
|10 |10
|11 -|11

The action of a controlled-Z gate is specified as follows

1 0 0 0
𝑈 = [ 00 1 0 0 ]
� 0 1 0
0 0 0 −1

Ex (1): S.T the state |10 remains un affected when operated by C-Z gate

1 0 0 00 0+0+0+0 0
0 1 0 00 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 0
𝑈𝑍|10⟩ = [ ][ ] = [ ]=[ ]
0 0 1 0 1 0+0+1+0 1
0 0 0 −1 0 0+0+0+0 0

∴ 𝑈𝑍|10⟩ = |10⟩

Ex (2): S.T the state |11 flips to - |11 when operated by C-Z gate

1 0 0 0 0 0+0+0+0 0
0 1 0 0
𝑈𝑍|11⟩ = [ ] [ ] = [0 + 0 + 0 + 0] = − [0]
0
0 0 1 0 0 0+0+0+0 0
0 0 0 −1 1 0+0+0−1 1

∴ 𝑈𝑍|11⟩ = − |11⟩

4. Toffoli Gate

The Toffoli gate or controlled-controlled-NOT (CCNOT) gate is a logic gate having three input
qubits. The first two bits are control bits which remain unaffected by the action of Toffoli Gate. The
third is the target bit which is inverted (ie, changes from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0) if both the control bits are 1;
else it does not change.
The circuit and the truth table are as follows

A A/ Input Output
A B C A /
B/ C/
0 0 0 0 0 0
B B/ 0 0 1 0 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 0
0 1 1 0 1 1
C C/ 1 0 0 1 0 0
1 0 1 1 0 1
1 1 0 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 0

Some examples are given here

|0 |0 |0 |

|1 | |1 |1
0
1

|0 |0
|1 |1 | |1 | |1
1 1
|0 |0
|1 |1 | |1 | |0
0 1

The Toffoli gate can be expressed as an 8 by 8 matrix as follows

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
𝖥
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 01
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
𝑈𝑇 = 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
I0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 I
. [0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 ]
NOTE:
 This is a reversible (no information is lost) and universal (all reversible logic circuits can
be built using Toffoli gates).
 It can be verified that this matrix is unitary and thus the Toffoli gate is a legitimate
quantum gate. The quantum Toffoli gate can be used to simulate irreversible classical
logic gates and ensures that the quantum gates are capable of performing any
computation that a classical computer can do

Limitations of quantum computing

As of now there are some technical difficulties and limitations in building quantum computers. Some
of them are
 As the number of quantum gates in a network increases, more interacting qubits are involved,
and it is very difficult to monitor their interactions
  The surrounding environment will affect the interactions of qubits (both superposition and
entanglement). As a result the quantum information will spread outside the quantum
computer and be lost into the environment, thus spoiling the computation. This process is
called de- coherence. How long quantum information will survive before it is spread out is
known as de- coherency time
 The number of operations that can be performed before the information is lost due to de-
coherency is therefore limited.
 Quantum chips must be kept at very low temperature to create super positions and
entanglement of qubits
 The final output of the quantum computers is in the form of a probability. When the question
is repeated, the answer changes. Hence repeated operations are required to get correct
answer.

Some physicists are pessimistic about the prospects of substantial further progress in quantum
computer technology. Some optimistic researchers believe that practical quantum computers will
appear in a matter of years rather than decades. We tend towards the optimistic end because

Optimism makes things happen!!!