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In the 1990's it was realized that quantum physics has some spectacular applications in computer science. This book is a concise introduction to quantum computation, developing the basic elements of this new branch of computational theory without assuming any background in physics. It begins with an introduction to the quantum theory from a computer-science perspective. It illustrates the quantum-computational approach with several elementary examples of quantum speed-up, before moving to the major applications: Shor's factoring algorithm, Grover's search algorithm, and quantum error correction. The book is intended primarily for computer scientists who know nothing about quantum theory, but will also be of interest to physicists who want to learn the theory of quantum computation, and philosophers of science interested in quantum foundational issues. It evolved during six years of teaching the subject to undergraduates and graduate students in computer science, mathematics, engineering, and physics, at Cornell University. Review: Awesome book but no exercises - This book is really good at explaining quantum computing, definitely helpful to me. Only wish there were some exercises in it Review: Extremely useful - Mermin's explanations are among the clearest available, as is usual for him, and his treatment has many original features (including alternative quantum gates), and nuggets of insight. Some of his insights are not found in other books, but some are quoted by all of the other textbooks on quantum computing that appeared after his. Some of his terminology is favored by logic, but is non-standard: Qbit for what others write as 'qubit'. The only missing topic is Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing, which can be viewed as an outgrowth of error-correcting codes for quantum computing, which he treats very well. This is one of the indispensible books on the subject.
| Best Sellers Rank | #994,018 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #447 in Mathematical Physics (Books) #754 in Quantum Theory (Books) #5,542 in Computer Science (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 46 Reviews |
T**K
Awesome book but no exercises
This book is really good at explaining quantum computing, definitely helpful to me. Only wish there were some exercises in it
T**S
Extremely useful
Mermin's explanations are among the clearest available, as is usual for him, and his treatment has many original features (including alternative quantum gates), and nuggets of insight. Some of his insights are not found in other books, but some are quoted by all of the other textbooks on quantum computing that appeared after his. Some of his terminology is favored by logic, but is non-standard: Qbit for what others write as 'qubit'. The only missing topic is Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing, which can be viewed as an outgrowth of error-correcting codes for quantum computing, which he treats very well. This is one of the indispensible books on the subject.
M**M
Written for non-mind-readers like me
I'm not a big fan of the whole 'we leave it as an exercise to show...', 'it can be shown with straightforward algebra manipulation that...', and other rubbish that one finds in physics books. I'm a working professional that wants to learn a new discipline in a very limited amount of time, and if I had the time to derive everything from scratch, I I wouldn't need to purchase a textbook. This book nails it. The author shows his work. I'm not spending hours trying to fill in skipped steps or trying to figure out notation that's unclear or introduced without definition. Wonderful work. Highly recommended.
W**R
Radical Evolution in Computing is Upon Us Now
A must read for every IT and/or Cyber Security Professional as a major shift in computing will occur within the next 5 to 10 years. Now is the time to embrace quantum computing as those in the know will reap the benefits of being part of a small group of people who will be in a position to change the world. Great introductory book and can be considered a stepping stone into the quantum computing world.
B**N
A standard text
Uses matrices and circuits but not Python libraries. Sovers the basics and the canon of algorithms. Of the fields of quantum information (computing, communication, sensing), this book is about computing.
P**N
Consider skipping the kindle version
The book itself is fantastic, five stars for content, but the kindle version has some serious issues-- many symbols that should be superscripts are not, some mathematical expressions have distorted layout, or worse, appear as scanned images--sometimes of such low resolution as to make the indices illegible. For the forty dollars I paid it's a slap in the face. Again I want to stress the high quality of the writing and content, but think twice before investing in the kindle version.
M**1
Great Intro.
Great Intro ...Mermin gets right into the thick of it quickly ...this is one of the best physics/computer science books I have ever read over the past 50 years !
C**R
not really for beginners
Inconsistent with definitions and several terms are used before they are defined.
M**T
Kindle format abominable !
Pas de commentaires sur le contenu. Par contre, le Kindle format est abominable : formules illisibles, ... Shame on Kindle !
R**D
Great introduction to the subject !
Much better than Chaung for a beginner student.
P**A
Important step towards mastering the subject
Mermin's intro may not be for the absolute beginner but if you supplement its reading with another more accessible handbook then you ll surely benefit from it...in any case you can't achieve mastery with just one book ...so this should be on your list along with Kitaev's intro to Quantum (the one published by AMS)...I would also recommend to make a pass from G. Strang's Linear Algebra Intro that covers most of the Algebra you need at this level....
T**M
Five Stars
This is a must have textbook.
J**H
Like many such book this has "an introduction to" in ...
Like many such book this has "an introduction to" in the title. It clearly is not an introduction. However I actually did want some depth in explanation and so is ok
Trustpilot
1 week ago
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