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Week 3 - Single Qubit States and The Bloch Sphere

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Week 3 - Single Qubit States and The Bloch Sphere

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amathya45
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Single Qubit states and their visualization

Introduction to Quantum Computing

Jothishwaran C.A.

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering


Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

May 10, 2025


Outline

Recap

Complex Vectors and Qubits


Qubit states in C2
Basis vectors and State representation
Projections and Photons

Visualising the Qubit state


Polar Coordinates
The global phase
States in Polar Coordinates
Visualising the Qubit state
What we know so far

▶ In quantum computing, the fundamental unit of information is a


quantum bit (qubit).

▶ A qubit can be used to represent the state of many physical objects.

▶ We considered photons, where the qubit was used to represent the


polarization state of the photon.

▶ Vertical (|0⟩) and horizontal (|1⟩) polarization states were considered


as the basis for these qubits.
What we know so far

▶ A real superposition (linear combination) of |0⟩ and |1⟩ formed


oblique polarization states.

▶ Complex superposition also accounts for circular and elliptical


polarization states.

▶ A vertically aligned polarizer can be used to “measure” the


polarization state of these photons.

▶ If a photon passes through this polarizer its polarization is measured


to be vertically aligned. If a photon is blocked (absorbed) by this
polarizer , its polarization is measured to be horizontally aligned.
What we know so far

▶ Measuring a qubit state with respect to a basis will change the


quantum state of the photon.

▶ After measurement, the state of the photon changes to one of the


basis states.

▶ The outcome of a quantum measurement is in general represented


by a real number.

▶ In the case of a qubit, the measurement outcome is represented by a


single classical bit.
The vector space C2

▶ A vector in the space C2 is represented as follows:


 
a
|ψ⟩ = ; a, b ∈ C
b
 
▶ If |ϕ⟩ = c , the inner products ⟨ϕ|ψ⟩ and ⟨ψ|ϕ⟩ are defined as:
d
 
 a
⟨ϕ|ψ⟩ = c̄ d¯ = ac̄ + b d¯
b
and   †
 a
⟨ψ|ϕ⟩ = c̄ d¯ = āc + b̄d = ⟨ϕ|ψ⟩
b
Normalization and the Qubit state

▶ Consider the quantity ⟨ψ|ψ⟩ which has a value

2 2
⟨ψ|ψ⟩ = |a| + |b|

▶ Therefore a vector |ψ⟩ is a qubit state if ⟨ψ|ψ⟩ = 1.

˜ as follows:
▶ A general vector |ϕ⟩ can be converted to a qubit state |ϕ⟩

˜ = 1
|ϕ⟩ 1 |ϕ⟩
⟨ϕ|ϕ⟩ 2

▶ The above process is referred to as normalization and the quantity


1
⟨ϕ|ϕ⟩ 2 is called the norm of the vector |ϕ⟩.

▶ Qubit states can now be formally defined as vectors in C2 with a


unit norm.
Basis States
   
▶ Defining the vectors |0⟩ = 1 0
and |1⟩ = , the vector |ψ⟩ is
0 1
now expressed as:

|ψ⟩ = a |0⟩ + b |1⟩


It is possible to represent any vector in C2 is the above manner.

▶ The set {|0⟩ , |1⟩} is called the standard or the computational basis
and is said to span C2 .

▶ The inner products have the values; ⟨0|0⟩ = ⟨1|1⟩ = 1 and


⟨0|1⟩ = ⟨1|0⟩ = 0 .

▶ A basis satisfying the above property is known as an orthonormal


basis. It is worth noting that orthonormal basis vectors are valid
qubit states.
Coordinates and Projections

▶ Considering the vector |ψ⟩ and the computational basis {|0⟩ , |1⟩},
the following is true
   
 a  a
⟨0|ψ⟩ = 1 0 = a ; ⟨1|ψ⟩ = 0 1 = b
b b

▶ The coordinates of the vector |ψ⟩ can be defined in terms of the


inner product with the basis vectors.

▶ The inner product of |ψ⟩ with a basis vector is known as the


projection of |ψ⟩ along that basis vector.

▶ The vector |ψ⟩ can now be represented in terms of the projections as


follows:

|ψ⟩ = ⟨0|ψ⟩ |0⟩ + ⟨1|ψ⟩ |1⟩


“Non-standard” Basis

▶ The idea of coordinates and projections is true for any orthonormal


basis.
▶ Consider the basis orthonormal basis {|+⟩ , |−⟩}, where
   
1 1
|+⟩ = √12 and |−⟩ = √12 .
1 −1
▶ In this basis, the vector |ψ⟩ is represented as:

|ψ⟩ = ⟨+|ψ⟩ |+⟩ + ⟨−|ψ⟩ |−⟩


evaluating the inner products give the result
a+b a−b
|ψ⟩ = √ |+⟩ + √ |−⟩
2 2
Projections and Photons
 
▶ The state of an obliquely polarized photon |χ⟩ = cos θ
, this state
sin θ
can be represented in the standard basis as:

|χ⟩ = cos θ |0⟩ + sin θ |1⟩


where the basis vectors |0⟩, |1⟩ represent the vertical and horizontal
polarization states.

▶ The probability that this photon is transmitted by a polarized


2
aligned along the |0⟩ is given by | cos θ| .

▶ The transmission probability can now be correctly reinterpreted as


2
| ⟨0|χ⟩ | and this result maybe used to calculate the transmission
probabilities for circularly polarized light as well.

▶ The above result can be generalised to transmission probabilities for


a polarizer oriented along any direction using the same method as
described before.
Polar Coordinates
▶ A complex number, z = x + i y can be represented in the polar form
as, z = re iϕ where
p y 
r = x 2 + y 2 ; ϕ = arctan
x

Figure 1: Figure showing the representations of a complex number. Source:


Wikipedia2

2 Complex number illustration.svg: The original uploader was Wolfkeeper at English

Wikipedia. derivative work: Kan8eDie (talk)


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Complex_number_illustration_modarg.svg, “Complex number illustration modarg”,
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode
The global phase
▶ The unit complex number e iϕ is also referred to as a phase factor.

▶ Multiplying a photon state |ψ⟩ with a phase factor gives a state


e iϕ |ψ⟩. The phase factor is now referred to as a global phase factor.

▶ The projection of this new vector with respect to a basis state (say
|0⟩) is given by e iϕ ⟨0|ψ⟩.

▶ While this is different from ⟨0|ψ⟩, it should be noted that this new
state will have the same transmission probabilities as that of |ψ⟩.

▶ It is therefore not possible to distinguish e iϕ |ψ⟩ from |ψ⟩ by


performing polarization measurements.

▶ Therefore, states that differ from each other by only a global phase
are considered to be equivalent.
Qubit state in polar coordinates

▶ Consider the state |ψ⟩ in the standard basis with the coordinates
represented in polar coordinates. a = r0 e iϕ0 and b = r1 e iϕ1
▶ The state may now be expressed as follows:

|ψ⟩ = r0 e iϕ0 |0⟩ + r1 e iϕ1 |1⟩


 
= e iϕ0 r0 |0⟩ + r1 e i(ϕ1 −ϕ0 ) |1⟩
≡ r0 |0⟩ + r1 e i(ϕ1 −ϕ0 ) |1⟩

setting ϕ1 − ϕ0 = ϕ,

|ψ⟩ = r0 |0⟩ + r1 e iϕ |1⟩


additionally,

⟨ψ|ψ⟩ = 1 ⇒ r20 + r21 = 1


Parameter Selection

▶ Since, 0 ≤ r0 , r1 ≤ 1 and r20 + r21 = 1 it is possible to represent


r0 = cos (θ/2) and r1 = sin (θ/2) where, θ ∈ [0, π]

▶ Since, e iϕ = cos ϕ + i sin ϕ ⇒ ϕ ∈ [0, 2π). This angle is known as


the relative phase.

▶ These parameters are identical to the angle variable in spherical


polar coordinates. Therefore, each qubit state defined using these
parameters corresponds to a point on a unit sphere.

▶ The qubit state in terms of this parameter is represented as

|ψ⟩ = cos(θ/2) |0⟩ + e iϕ sin(θ/2) |1⟩

▶ The sphere on which the point corresponding to the state is present


is known as the Bloch Sphere.
Qubit states on the Bloch Sphere

Figure 2: Figure showing a point on the Bloch Sphere. Source: Wikipedia3

3 Smite-Meister

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloch_sphere.svg), “Bloch sphere”,


(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode)
Qubit states on the Bloch Sphere

Figure 3: Figure showing the the point corresponding to |0⟩


Qubit states on the Bloch Sphere

Figure 4: Figure showing the point corresponding to |1⟩


Qubit states on the Bloch Sphere

Figure 5: Figure showing the point corresponding to |+⟩

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