The magic behind quantum computing: Square Root of (-1)

Abstract: The soothingly graspable formalism of Quantum Mechanics (comprising of quite elementary concepts of linear algebra) contrasts strongly with profound interpretational problems of this formalism. Hence, not to discourage a reader, most expositions quickly move to the formalism and technical description of quantum algorithms, leaving a mathematician not trained in physics somewhat perplexed. This gentler introduction to quantum computing honestly presents the strangeness of quantum nature of reality and is aimed to a non-physicist who ponders why quantum computers are possible.

Speaker's Bio: Jerzy Kocik's interests lie in mathematics motivated by physics and range from Lie algebras (including Berezin quantization) to differential geometry to pure geometry. He is currently investigating integral Apollonian disk packings and discovering their unexpectedly rich connections with number theory, geometry, group theory and physics. In 2010 he received the MAA Lester Ford Award for the article "Disentangling a triangle" published in the Monthly.