Uma ferramenta para projeto e simulação de circuitos quânticos.

Abstract

Quantum Computation appeared as a promissing alternative technology capable of turn around the problems predicted to happen soon with the saturation of the current technology (Classical Computation). These problems occur when one works with very small components, in the order of a few nanometers, when the Quantum Mechanics effects start to become stronger, generating random results. Quantum Computation takes advantage of those e effects, resulting in a Computation not only faster, but a new kind of Computation, capable of realizing new types of computations impossible, in principle, to be realized classically. Although the Quantum Computation theory has been developping fast, the experimental part still faces great dificulties. Though implementations of simple algorithms, with a few qubits, have already been done, there are still serious problems of scalability, decoherence and controlability to be solved. Due to these problems, the use of simulators becomes mandatory either for the development of new algorithms and for the study of existing algorithms. Simulation, however, has a problem, in that a quantum system an only be eficiently simulated by another quantum system. A quantum system of n qubits will take time O(2n ) to be simulated by a classical computer. Simulations, however, results the most available alternative due to the lack of a quantum hardware. This work presents the process of comception and implementation of a universal quantum circuit simulator, named Zeno. The quantum circuit model was chosen due to it being an easily assimilated and widely known model. The work presents an introduction to the concepts of Quantum Computation used in the simulator's implementation, the general requisites wanted for a new quantum circuit simulator, as from the functional point of view as from the non-functional, the development process used and an analysis of the results obtained with the simulator's implementation.