More Numbers Than You Can Imagine
The methods of theoretical physics should be applicable to all those branches of thought in which the essential features are expressible with numbers.
Paul Dirac, 1933 Nobel Prize Banquet Speech
People use numbers for counting, percentages, ratios, prices, math homework, taxes, and other practical applications.
These are all examples of real numbers. In this chapter, we look at the properties and operations of real numbers, especially those of subsets such as the integers. We extend those properties and operations to other collections, such as the complex numbers, that are core to understanding quantum computing.
For example, we define a quantum bit, or qubit, as a pair of complex numbers with additional properties. We begin to lay the foundation for the algebraic side of quantum computing. In the next chapter, we’ll turn to geometry.
