This is the first semester of a two-semester sequence. The second semester, which will be taught by Akimasa Miyake in the spring semester, focuses on quantum computation.

The course syllabus details the topics to be covered and provides a complete schedule for the course. It is also your gateway to the web-based material: lecture notes, special handouts, homework assignments, and solution sets, all of which are available as pdf files linked to the syllabus.

The course assumes that you have a good background in linear algebra and some familiarity with the Hilbert-space formulation of quantum mechanics, including the description of quantum states as vectors in Hilbert space, observables as Hermitian operators, and time evolutions as unitary operators. The course is structured so that you could come up to speed on these things as the course progresses, but that would involve a bit of scrambling. It will certainly be to your advantage if you have some familiarity with Dirac's bra-ket notation for manipulating the linear-algebraic mathematical objects of quantum mechanics and you are familiar with the Pauli-matrix algebra for two-state quantum systems (qubits) and with the associated Bloch-sphere description of qubit quantum states.

The course will be taught on two tracks, a graded track and an ungraded (credit/no-credit) track. There will not be any exams. All students are welcome and encouraged to register for a grade. Those registering for a letter grade will be expected to attend the lectures and show interest and to do the homework problems and to discuss each completed homework problem with the instructor by the due date. Students who prefer the ungraded track should fill out the relevant form on the Registrar's web site and register for the CR/NC grading option. To receive a grade of CR, students need only attend the lectures and show interest. (You should be familiar with the University deadlines for changing grading options.)