This course tries to connect quantum computing to the wider intellectual world. We’ll start out with various scientific, mathematical, or philosophical problems that predate quantum computing: for example, the measurement problem, P versus NP, the existence of secure cryptography, the Humean problem of induction, or the possibility of closed timelike curves. We’ll then examine in what ways, if any, quantum computing affects how we should think about the problem. To keep things grounded, each session will end with a concrete puzzle that students will be expected to have thought about (if not solved) by the next session. The class format will strongly encourage participation, discussion, and debate.

Ainda não interessado? Veja os títulos das notas das palestras:

# Atoms and the Void # Gödel, Turing, and Friends # Minds and Machines # Paleocomplexity # P, NP, and Friends # Quantum Computing # Penrose # Decoherence and Hidden Variables # Skepticism of Quantum Computing # Interactive Proofs # Fun With The Anthropic Principle # Free Will # Time Travel

De Scott Aaronson.