Applications and Realisations

Overview

Secondary School

Physics, Computer Science

Quantum Computing

English

Summary

This unit explores how key ideas from quantum computing can be modelled and realised using physical systems and hands‑on experiments. Through optics and simple models, students build intuition for quantum behaviour beyond purely abstract descriptions.

Authors: Chiara Colucci (IT), Mariana Filipova (BG), Marco Nicolini (IT), Elena Poncela Blanco (ES), Martin Šechný (SK), Kristóf Tóth (HU)

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Playing with Light

Polarisation experiments with laser light introduce surprising effects and provide an accessible way to model a two‑level system and develop quantum intuition.

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Light Crossroads – Optical Quantum Gates in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A Mach–Zehnder interferometer is used to show how optical components can act like quantum gates, linking wave optics to simple quantum circuits.

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Splitting and Reuniting Laser Beams - With Birefringent Crystals

Experiments with birefringent crystals reveal phenomena that challenge classical explanations and motivate a quantum description of light.

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How to implement Deutsch’s algorithm with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

This unit links Deutsch’s algorithm with its implementation in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, showing how a simple optical setup can model a one‑qubit quantum algorithm and experimentally distinguish between constant and balanced functions.

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Two Photons, One Story – A metaphorical approach to entanglement

In this unit, a fantasy story is used to introduce quantum entanglement in a creative and engaging way, offering an alternative perspective on the topic.

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