Programming Pulse Driven Quantum Computers

Abstract

Arrays of weakly-coupled quantum systems can be made to compute by subjecting them to a sequence of electromagnetic pulses of well-defined frequency and length. Such pulsed arrays are true quantum computers: bits can be placed in superpositions of 0 and 1, logical operations take place coherently, and dissipation is required only for error correction. Programming such computers is accomplished by selecting the proper sequence of pulses.

15 pages, TeX. This 1993 preprint, together with its shorter version (A potentially realizable quantum computer, Science 261, 1569, 1993) shows how a scalable universal quantum computer could be constructed using optical or magnetic resonance