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Quantum Computing Since Democritus

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Quantum Computing Since Democritus
File:Quantum Computing Since Democritus.gif
Book cover
AuthorScott Aaronson
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication date
2013
Media typeprint
Pages398
ISBN978-0521199568 ISBN-13
Websitehttp://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9781107302105

Quantum Computing Since Democritus is a book written by Scott Aaronson.[1] It is loosely based on a course Aaronson taught at the University of Waterloo, the lecture notes for which are available online.[2]

Contents

The book, according to the author, is meant to be of the same level as Leonard Susskind's The Theoretical Minimum or Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality - in between pop science level reading and textbook level reading.[3] It was compared to George Gamow's writing by Physics Today.[4] The book covers everything from computer science to mathematics to quantum mechanics and quantum computing, starting, as the title indicates, with Democritus.

Table of Contents

  1. Atoms and the void
  2. Sets
  3. Gödel, Turing, and friends
  4. Minds and machines
  5. Paleocomplexity
  6. P, NP, and friends
  7. Randomness
  8. Crypto
  9. Quantum
  10. Quantum computing
  11. Penrose
  12. Decoherence and hidden variables
  13. Proofs
  14. How big are quantum states?
  15. Skepticism of quantum computing
  16. Learning
  17. Interactive proofs, circuit lower bounds, and more
  18. Fun with the Anthropic Principle
  19. Free will
  20. Time travel
  21. Cosmology and complexity
  22. Ask me anything

Author

Scott Aaronson is a American physicist at MIT in the field of quantum computing.[5]

Reception

Michael Nielsen called it "a beautiful synthesis of what we know",[6] while Seth Lloyd praised it as "lucid", describing Aaronson as a "tornado of intellectual activity".[7]

The Journal of the American Mathematical Society considered it to have "much insight, wisdom, and fun", but conceded that it "is not for everyone',[8] while Stephen Wolfram accused Aaronson of having "delusions of grandeur" for assuming that the book would be popular.[9] Luboṥ Motl praised Aaronson's writing as "very witty, narcisistically (sic) witty", but considered the book to be scientifically dubious.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Quantum computing democritus | Quantum physics, quantum information and quantum computation". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  2. ^ "PHYS771 Quantum Computing Since Democritus". www.scottaaronson.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  3. ^ "Scott Aaronson: Quantum Computing since Democritus". The Reference Frame. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Francis (2014-02-28). "Quantum Computing Since Democritus". Physics Today. 67 (3): 54–56. doi:10.1063/PT.3.2315. ISSN 0031-9228.
  5. ^ "NSF Honors Two Early Career Researchers With Alan T. Waterman Award | NSF - National Science Foundation". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  6. ^ "Comment by Michael Nielsen on Shtetl-Optimized Quantum Computing Since Democritus: The Buzz Intensifies". www.scottaaronson.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ "Quantum Computing since Democritus - Cambridge University Press". www.cambridge.org. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  8. ^ Wigderson, Avi. "Quantum Computing Since Democritus Book Review" (PDF). Journal of the American Mathematical Society. 61, Number 10: 1218–1220.
  9. ^ "Stephen Wolfram Reviews "Quantum Computing Since Democritus"". Quantum Bayesian Networks. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  10. ^ "Scott Aaronson: a prototype of some confusion of IT scientists about physics". The Reference Frame. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
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