Quantum gates are fundamental building blocks in quantum computing that manipulate the quantum states of qubits. They are analogous to classical logic gates used in classical computing, but they operate on the principles of quantum mechanics.
In quantum computing, qubits are the basic units of information and can exist in multiple states simultaneously, thanks to a property called superposition. Quantum gates allow us to perform operations on these qubits, enabling computation and manipulating the information they contain.
Quantum gates are represented by matrices that describe their action on the quantum state. When a quantum gate is applied to a qubit or a set of qubits, it transforms the quantum state of the system according to its defined operation. The quantum state can be represented as a vector in a mathematical space known as a Hilbert space.
One of the most fundamental quantum gates is the Hadamard gate (H gate). It is commonly used to create superposition and is represented by the following matrix:
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