Course syllabus for Quantum optics and quantum information

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-26 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameKvantoptik och kvantinformation
  • CodeFKA173
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPNAT
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyEngineering Physics
  • DepartmentMICROTECHNOLOGY AND NANOSCIENCE
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 18119
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsYes

Credit distribution

0113 Examination 7.5 c
Grading: TH		7.5 c
  • 26 Okt 2021 am J
  • Contact examiner
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Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

We assume that you followed an introductory course in quantum physics. The lectures are given in a self-contained form, introducing the necessary notation. A familiarity with the Dirac notation of quantum mechanics is helpful but not crucial.

Aim

The course gives an introduction on how one can manipulate and detect quantum mechanical systems such as single atoms and photons, and how one can use them as quantum mechanical two-level systems - quantum bits - for quantum information processing. The course gives an overview on this very active field of research and connects to ongoing research on quantum mechanical superconducting circuits and microwave photons.

We will first study how matter (atoms) interacts with an electromagnetic field at the quantum level (photons) and how one can perform experiments that demonstrate and exploit the "strange" properties of quantum mechanics, e.g. teleportation. In such experiments, one can use "ordinary" atoms or artificial atoms such as superconducting microelectronic circuits that possess quantum mechanical properties like atoms. 

Such a quantum technology enables to build quantum computers or quantum communication systems. Quantum computers allow to perform certain computations or simulatiopns by using quantum algorithms that are faster than the corresponding classical algorithms. We will discuss some basic algorithms in the course. Quantum communication systems allow performing quantum key distribution over absolute safe channels, which we will briefly touch upon in the course.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

After the course the student should be able to
- derive the Hamiltonian of an electronic circuit;
- understand the difference between classical and non-classical radiation;
- explain the properties of the Jaynes-Cummings model;
- use the Bloch equations to describe the dissipative dynamics of a quantum mechanical two-level system;
- analyze the properties of simple quantum algorithms and understand their difference with respect to the corresponding classical algorithms in terms of time complexity;
- compute the output state of simple quantum circuits composed of elementary single-qubit operations, entangling gates and measurements;
- explain and experimentally perform manipulations and measurements of the state of a superconducting qubit

Content

Building blocks of quantum mechanics and quantum optics:
- two-level systems (qubits) and the Bloch sphere;

What is circuit quantum electrodynamics?
- quantizing an electronic circuit;

Interactions between light and matter:
- photons: classical and non-classical states of radiation;
- atom-field interaction: Rabi-oscillations and the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian;
- quantum decoherence;
- read-out of quantum information.

Quantum information science: 
- quantum algorithms: universal gate sets, Deutsch-Josza's, and Grover's algorithms;
- quantum communication; teleportation and quantum key distribution.

Organisation

Lectures, exercises, home work, and a state-of-the art experiment with report writing

Literature

Lecture notes, hand-outs.

The following literature is good but not strictly necessary to acquire:

"Introductory Quantum Optics" Christopher Gerry and Peter Knight, Cambridge University Press, ISBN-10: 052152735X

"Quantum Computation and Quantum Information" Michael A. Nielsen and Isaac L. Chuang Cambridge University Press (2000) ISBN 0 521 63503 9. Can be found as an e-book in the library.

Examination including compulsory elements

The course examination will consist of: 5 obligatory hand-ins, lab report and exam. For reexamination, contact the course examiners. To  pass the course, you need to obtain at least 40% of the points on the exam and participate in the lab and submit a written lab report. The grade will then be based on: exam (50%), hand-ins (35%) and lab report (15%). 

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.