How to Teach Basic Quantum Mechanics to Computer Scientists and Electrical Engineers

Abstract

Because of the rapid development of quantum computation and of quantum technologies in general, computer scientists and electrical engineers will have to learn quantum mechanics (QM) in the near future. Although the teaching methods of QM are well established in both undergraduate and graduate physics courses, an effective method for teaching QM to computer scientists and electrical engineers is still lacking. This paper tries to fill this gap and suggests a new teaching method based on quantum cryptography. The goal of this paper is to show that computer scientists and electrical engineers can properly understand quantum theory without studying a degree in physics.