Quantum Computing: From Alice to Bob

Quantum Computing: From Alice to Bob provides a distinctive and accessible introduction to the rapidly growing fields of quantum information science and quantum computing. The textbook is designed for undergraduate students and upper-level secondary school students with little or no background in physics, computer science, or mathematics beyond secondary school algebra and a bit of trigonometry. Higher education faculty members and secondary school mathematics, physics, and computer science educators who want to learn about quantum computing and perhaps teach a course accessible to students with wide ranging backgrounds will also find the book useful and enjoyable.

While broadly accessible, the textbook does not dodge providing a solid conceptual and formal understanding of quantum states and entanglement - the key ingredients in quantum computing. The authors dish up a hearty meal for the readers, disentangling and explaining many of the classic quantum algorithms that demonstrate how and when QC has an advantage over classical computers. The book is spiced with Try Its, brief exercises that engage the readers in problem solving (both with and without mathematics) and help them digest the many counter-intuitive quantum information science and quantum computing concepts.

Alice Flarend, Physics Teacher, Bellwood-Antis High School,Robert Hilborn, Associate Executive Officer, Amherst College

Dr Flarend, a former nuclear engineer, earned a Ph.D in Curriculum and Instruction from The Pennsylvania State University and has been a high school physics teacher for more than 20 years. Her research interests include how learners develop their understanding of our solar system, teachers' views on including climate science in core science courses, and how teachers learn new content and pedagogy. Dr. Flarend has over a decade of experience providing teacher professional development in physics including classical, nuclear and quantum physics.


Dr Hilborn received his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 1971. He served as a physics faculty member at Oberlin, Amherst, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the University of Texas at Dallas. He has had many decades experience doing quantum physics research in atomic, molecular, and optical physics and teaching quantum mechanics to undergraduate students. He is author of Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers (OUP 1994, 2000). He is currently the Associate Executive Officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers and principal investigator for several nation-wide physics education projects funded by the National Science Foundation.