Quantum Tales

Explore the world of quantum through the lens of classic fairy tales. In this project, we relate quantum algorithms to fanciful situations in order to demonstrate interesting qualities and applications of quantum computing in real life.

About the Book

Thanks to the generous support of the Unitary Fund, Quantum Tales is available as a beautiful PDF complete with illustrations from the talented Larissa Sharina. The PDF is available for download here.

For each story, I include its inspiration in the sources/ directory. If you’re unfamiliar with a tale, I recommend that you read the original story. This project is serving two goals: one is to bring quantum to more audiences, and the other is to spread countries’ stories across borders.

Google Docs

The book is written in Google Docs to encourage collaboration. If there is something that doesn’t make sense or an improvement you’d like to make, please leave suggestions in the Google Doc.

There are two links:

1. For viewing
2. For editing

PDF Format

If you enjoy the project, you can help fund more illustrations by purchasing the hardcover here. The printing is of the highest quality, bringing the illustrations and story to a timeless medium.

GitHub Repository

All other code samples and notes are in the GitHub repository. This project is ongoing and will expand as more tales are related to more algorithms. So, feel free to make a pull request and have your name added to the illustrious list of contributors!

Info

Here are some of the story ideas we (will) explore in Quantum Tales:

• Entanglement
  • Quantum Teleportation / The Story of the Twins (Bantu Peoples)
  • Quantum Teleportation / Cowherd and Weaver Girl (Ancient China)
  • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) / The Talking Drums (West Africa)
• Superposition
  • Grover’s algorithm / The Search for the Perfect Mango (Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines)
  • Quantum Phase Estimation (QPE) / The Dream Weaver (Maasai)
  • Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) / The Weaver and the Spider (Aboriginal Australians)
  • Bernstein Vazirani algorithm / Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Modern Britain)
• Quantum Factoring Algorithms
  • Shor’s algorithm / The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Middle East)
• Quantum Cryptography Algorithms
  • Quantum Coin Flipping / The Gambler and the Merchant (Ancient Egypt)
  • Quantum Oblivious Transfer / The Secret Keeper (Tlingit)
• Quantum Machine Learning Algorithms
  • Quantum k-means clustering / The Ants and the Sugar Cube (Indus Valley Civilization)
  • Quantum Support Vector Machines (QSVM) / The Lion and the Mouse (Ancient Greece)
  • Quantum Neural Networks / The Song of the Birds (Ainu)
• Quantum Optimization Algorithms
  • Quantum Annealing / The Master Gardener (Sami)
  • Grover’s algorithm / Tortoise and Hare (Ancient Greece)
  • Quantum Repeat-Until-Success (Q-RUS) / The Little Engine That Could (North America)

Contact me at spence@duck.com with any input about the project or create an issue on GitHub.