11.8 Simulation
Is it possible to simulate a quantum computer on a classical computer? If we could do it, ‘‘quantum computing’’ would be only another technique for coding software on our current machines.
In this section we look at what you have to take into account if you want to write a simulator for manipulating logical qubits.
If you have a simulator handy, such as one that is provided by Qiskit or the IBM Q Experience, you can use it for small problems. Here we look at how you might build a simulator, in general terms. I offer no complete code in any particular programming language but more of a list of what you need to take into account. You can skip this section if you are not interested in such concerns.
11.8.1 Qubits
Your first decision when thinking about building a quantum computing simulator is how you represent qubits. With this and your other choices, you can build a general model or you can specialize it. We’re...
