Supplementary Information for COMP39112

Course Specific Stuff

This course uses two sets of notes. There are my own notes (RHB.notes below)
for the first part of the course, and the second part of the course will be
based on the latter part of Abbas Edalat's excellent notes (AE.notes below),
used with the kind permission of Imperial College.

Specifically, the course is defined by all of RHB.notes, together with slides
69-123 from AE.notes. The exercises also form an essential part of the course
(of course).

Although the rest of AE.notes is not officially part of the course, it is
very appropriate supplementary reading and you might find it gives you a
useful alternative view on some issues. Check out also the supplementary
notes on linear algebra provided below.

Notes:

RHB.notes.ps.gz    RHB.notes.pdf

AE.notes.ps.gz     AE.notes.pdf


Exercises:

Exercises1.ps    Exercises1.pdf

Exercises2.ps    Exercises2.pdf

Exercises3.ps    Exercises3.pdf

Exercises4.ps    Exercises4.pdf

Exercises5.ps    Exercises5.pdf


Past Papers:

Past Papers (.pdf)


Linear Algebra:

The linear algebra part of the course is pretty terse, and
Computer Science students in particular may appreciate a less
frantic treatment. Here are some supplementary notes that cover
some of the manipulations most commonly found in quantum computing,
and a quick reference sheet of concepts and formulae.

Lin.Alg.Suppl.Notes.ps    Lin.Alg.Suppl.Notes.pdf

Lin.Alg.Quick.Ref.ps    Lin.Alg.Quick.Ref.pdf

If you type 'linear algebra' into Amazon, you get more than
1300 references. I got bored after about 300. Of these, I've
listed some of the more promising below. N.B. There is the
unavoidable question of which argument of the inner product
is linear and which is conjugate linear; call the two possibilities
the Maths convention and the Physics convention.
Maths: linear in first argument, conjugate linear in second argument.
Physics: conjugate linear in first argument, linear in second argument.
Most of the 'purely linear algebra' books below, being primarily
for mathematicians, use the Maths convention, though all the
quantum computing literature and thus also COMP30222 uses the
Physics convention. 

Of late however there is an increasing supply of physics and quantum
computing books that do linear algebra in a manner suitable for COMP30222
revision. By and large these now take precedence over the 'purely linear
algebra' books because they deal with the more specialised concepts
like functions of operators and (especially) tensor products, which
the 'purely linear algebra' books tend not to do.

Griffiths R.
Consistent Quantum Theory
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 021539293 (2002)
Physics convention
(No there's no mistake, this book really does belong here.
Chapter 3 on linear algebra and Chapter 6 on tensor products
are fairly brief, but so close to the treatment in RHB.notes
that it's creepy. Definitely the first port of call for
supplementary reading on linear algebra. No worked examples
or exercises though.)

Benenti G., Casati G., Strini G.
Principles of Quantum Computation and Information
Volume I: Basic Concepts
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9812388583 (2004)
Physics convention
(Contains a perfectly reasonable survey of linear algebra
concepts from the quantum computing point of view. Neck
and neck with Griffiths. Like Griffiths, no worked examples
or exercises.)

Steeb W-H., Hardy Y.
Problems and Solutions in Quantum Computing and Quantum Information
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9812387900 (2004)
Physics convention
(Contains lots of worked examples of advanced quantum physics
concepts. Some reasonable coverage of the more advanced linear
algebra concepts for quantum computing; but you have to dig to
find them.)

Anton H.
Elementary Linear Algebra
John Wiley & Sons Inc.; ISBN: 0471230928 (2001)
(also Anton H., Rorres C.; Elementary Linear Algebra with Applications
John Wiley & Sons Inc.; ISBN: 0471170526 (2000))
Maths convention
(Chapter 10 gives a nice overview of complex numbers and complex
inner product spaces. Lots of examples etc. Not too longwinded,
not too terse. Recommended if you need a gentle coverage of the
basics.)

Kaye R., Wilson R.
Linear Algebra
Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0198502370 (1998)
Physics convention
(A maths book (definitely a maths book) that uses the Physics
convention! Startling in itself. Also surprising is the close
resemblance to the linear algebra part of COMP30222 which is
quite accidental. Recommended.)

Fraleigh J., Beauregard, R.
Linear Algebra
Addison Wesley; ISBN: 0201839997 (1995)
Physics convention
(Another maths book that uses the Physics convention. Chapter 9
covers complex numbers and the basics of complex linear algebra,
while refering back to earlier material done with just the reals.
The chapter is somewhat briefer than Anton's Chapter 10, and is
not as self contained.)

Lipschutz S., Lipson M.
Schaum's Outline of Linear Algebra (Schaum's Outlines)
Schaum; ISBN: 0071362002 (2001)
Maths convention
(Ancient warhorse of linear algebra revision. Still going strong
after all these years. God only knows which edition/reprinting
it's in now.)

Lay D.
Linear Algebra and Its Applications
Addison Wesley; ISBN: 0201709708 (2002)
Maths convention
(It hardly matters that it uses the Maths convention since there
seems to be no trace of complex vector spaces. If you're
desperate and can't find any of the preceding books, it might be
worth a look provided you keep a mental note of where complex
conjugations are required yourself. (But if you're confident
about that, would you be looking here?? :-/) Lots of pretty
pictures, colour diagrams, biographical details, and other
distractions.)

Strang G.
Linear Algebra and Its Applications
Thomson Learning; ISBN: 0030105676 (2006)
(Unreconstituted headbanging matrix mathematics, now in its fourth
edition, and suitably 'friendliness-enhanced' to cater for today's
more demanding tastes. Definitely for the determined, but it's the
only 'purely linear algebra' book in this bunch that mentions the
exponential of a matrix. I'm confident it uses the Physics convention
though you have to look hard to find the actual definition of the
complex inner product.)


Course Texts and Similar:

Yanofsky N., Mannucci M.
Quantum Computing for Computer Scientists
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521879965 (2008)
(A book that says it's written for computer science students, and
means it. Very careful and gently paced intro to the basic machinery
in the first couple of chapters. Then it covers (almost all of) the
COMP30222 syllabus with equal tenderness up to chapter 6. Most of the
rest is not needed for COMP30222, though teleportation is done near
the end. Definitely recommended for computer scientists. Others may
well enjoy it too, if they prefer a gentler, minimalist approach to
the subject. If you want the real deal on quantum computing then you
have to read Nielsen and Chuang, but this one will do for the COMP30222
exam. Cherry-picked literature guide in Appendix A.)

Nielsen M., Chuang I.
Quantum Computation and Quantum Information
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521635039 (2000)
(This remarkable volume set the standard for books about quantum
computing, and immediately became the de facto set text for any
decent course on the subject. It strives valiantly to not be a
physics book for six chapters and pretty much succeeds. After
that it's a physics book. For COMP30222, the part you need is those
first six chapters, which cover all the course material and some
more.)

Benenti G., Casati G., Strini G.
Principles of Quantum Computation and Information
Volume I: Basic Concepts
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9812388583 (2004)
(More gently paced than most books on the subject, this
one is a good fallback if you find that Nielsen and Chuang
is too brusque. It solves the problem of how to present the
tricky and difficult parts of the subject ... by being
just as terse about them as all the other books! Unlike
other gentler books though, the gentler parts do cover 
enough to give adequate (if not perfect) coverage of
the COMP30222 syllabus. Somewhat simplistic (i.e. pre-80's)
presentation of some aspects of quantum mechanics, but if
the preceding has tempted you to look at it, who cares?)

Mermin N.D.
Quantum Computer Science
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 9780521876582 (2007)
(Written by the 'M' of the GHZ argument in RHB.notes, it
features a unique operator-led approach to the subject
quite unlike the mainstream account. The clearest treatment
of error correction that I've seen. A small number of bugs
in the latter parts do not detract from the fact that this
is a thoroughly mind-expanding read. Recommended.)

Rieffel E., Polak W.
Quantum Computing: A Gentle Introduction
MIT Press; ISBN: 0262015064 (2011)
(Written by non-physicists for non-physicists, the book covers
all the basic stuff pretty throughly. A pity it uses non-standard
notation for quantum circuit diagrams though. It goes into fair
technical detail about a number of more advanced topics, and, given
its recent vintage, has a brief, up to date survey of more recent
advances. I don't see what's especially "gentle" about all of that.)

Kaye P., Laflamme R., Mosca M.
An Introduction to Quantum Computing
Oxford University Press; ISBN: 019857049X (2006)
(Starts off in a rush, skimping a bit on the introductory topics. 
Shame, because with another 20 or so pages, distributed where
needed in the first four chapters, it would have made an ideal
course text. Much material presented well: eg. it's the only book
that really explains what needs to be explained about the quantum
Fourier tansform. Some typos here and there, some latter parts
rather terse; but a real shame about those 20pp.)

Lo H-K., Spiller T.
Introduction to Quantum Computation and Information
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 981024410X (1998)
(Despite its age(!) it still gives decent approachable accounts
of many aspects of quantum computing.)

Gruska J.
Quantum Computing
Osborne McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 0077095030 (1999)
(Eclipsed by Nielsen and Chuang's book almost immediately after
publication, it betrays its roots as a review article that got
out of hand. Generally not bad, there's some unevenness of
treatment, appearance, language. But it's still the text of
choice for some aspects that Nielsen and Chuang neglect.)

Hirvensalo M.
Quantum Computing (2nd ed.)
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540407049 (2003)
(Short, fairly mathematical book on the main aspects of quantum
computing, written by a PhD student at Turku(!). Not bad if you're
mathematically inclined. If you look at this one, make sure it's
the second edition, in which the introductory chapters have been
improved.)

Pittenger A.
An Introduction to Quantum Computing Algorithms
Birkhauser Verlag AG; ISBN: 0817641270 (1999)
(Another short book on the main aspects of quantum computing.
Slightly less mathematical than Hirvensalo.)

Griffiths R.
Consistent Quantum Theory
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 021539293 (2002)
(A book on quantum theory very much in the spirit of COMP30222,
though the material relevant to COMP30222 (say the first nine
chapters) isn't covered in the same order, and those nine
chapters cover other material too. Concentrates on fundamental
concepts and toy models, and avoids heavy duty physics calculations.
Contains much material on the consistent histories approach to
quantum paradoxes and dilemmas. No exercises etc. so it's not
really a textbook, but gives great insight into the wierd aspects
of quantum theory. Also good for its COMP30222-like treatment of
linear algebra.)

Styer D.
The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521667801 (2000)
(Gentle introduction to the principal ideas of quantum mechanics.
Almost coffee table reading, but written with care, so no bullshit.)

Isham C.
Lectures on Quantum Theory: Mathematical and Structural Foundations
Imperial College Press (World Scientific); ISBN: 1860940013 (1995)
(Solid treatment of foundational issues of quantum mechanics at
advanced undergraduate level. Tends to rely a bit on preexisting
physics knowledge, but not excessively so.)

Berman K., Paul J.
Algorithms: Sequential, Parallel, and Distributed
Thomson Course Technology; ISBN: 0534420575 (2004)
(A nice, modern, thorough, and pedagogic account of algorithms.
Analysis of algorithms is in Chapter 3, if that's what you need.)

Brassard G., Bratley P.
Fundamentals of Algorithmics
Prentice-Hall; ISBN: 0133350681 (1996)
(Quite good but quite verbose treatment of algorithmic issues.
Chapter 4 on analysis of algorithms is the key one for those
lacking computing experience.)

Hardy Y., Steeb W.-H.
Classical and Quantum Computing with C++ and Java Simulations
Birkhauser Verlag AG; ISBN: 3764366109 (2001)
(Not a course text, but of the same ilk. A somewhat strange book,
featuring descriptions of all sorts of computing paradigms, with
lots of sample C++ and Java code bulking it out. The last 200pp.
are a relatively terse but competent summary of quantum computing,
along with the requisite results in linear algebra.)

Steeb W-H., Hardy Y.
Problems and Solutions in Quantum Computing and Quantum Information
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9812567402 (2006)
(Absolute goldmine for the lazy quantum physicist! Here you
will find lots of worked out calculations about all sorts of
advanced quantum models, both central and peripheral to the
quantum computing enterprise. Loads of stuff that the advanced
texts and research papers just leave you to do for yourself.
Great! A proportion of this is relevant to COMP30222, but it's
buried in a much larger quantity of much more advanced stuff,
so you have dig quite a bit to find it. Bring a shovel. Like
the previous book, the authors are unable to resist including
a (mercifully small) amount of C++ code. Why in heaven's name?
Endearingly egocentric book selection in the bibliography.)

Marinescu D., Marinescu G.
Approaching Quantum Computing
Prentice Hall; ISBN: 013145224X (2004)
(Intended as an introductory text, the writing style is however
rather too uncontrolled to rely on as sole main reference. Still,
the calculations relating to many specific course topics are treated
in a lot of detail, so worth dipping into for backup info.)


Background reading

These days books and articles on quantum computing are coming out
seemingly as if out of a firehose. Essentially none are exactly at
the level of COMP30222, basically because COMP30222 treads a carefully
navigated path between the most elementary results and more advanced
material. (And this mismatch is is even largely true of the course
texts.) So the following selection from among stuff worth looking
at beyond the course reading list, falls into two camps. The coffee
table stuff is wide ranging, not too technical, and certainly not
detailed enough on the COMP30222 syllabus topics to get you through
the COMP30222 exam. The advanced stuff invariably assumes more than
covered in COMP30222. At the very least you have to learn to love
density matrices. Nevertheless it may also not be detailed enough
on the COMP30222 syllabus topics to get you through the COMP30222
exam because of different emphasis. Then there's the online stuff ...


Coffee Table and Introductory Reading:

Siegfried T.
The Bit and the Pendulum
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 0471399744 (2001)
(Can you believe that title? Chapters like 'Beam up the Goulash'
... and it uses the word 'klutz'. A very American, informal,
entertaining, (and for all that, surprisingly cogent) excursion
into the role of information in physics and other sciences today,
by a well informed science journalist. It's also where I found
the Gell-Mann quote. :-)

Williams C., Clearwater S.
Ultimate Zero and One
Springer-Verlag New York Inc.; ISBN: 0387947698 (1999)
(An informal account of quantum computing.
Not perfect but not at all bad.)

Berman G., Doolen G., Mainieri R., Tsifrinovich V.
Introduction to Quantum Computers
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9810235496 (1998)
(Many authors make patchy coverage. Veers between very
elementary and fairly detailed. Some nice accessible
calculations of experimental phenomena in the later
chapters.)

Le Bellac M.
A Short Introduction to Quantum Information and Quantum Computation
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521860563 (2006)
(It assumes you're a physicist and already know a reasonable
amount about optics and quantum theory, despite trying not
to rely on this too much. Not recommeded if you're a quantum
computing novice, as there are too many potential red herrings
in the writing.)

Imre S., Balazs F.
Quantum Computing and Communications: An Engineering Approach
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 047086902X (2005)
(The usual quantum computing topics, flavoured with a notably
East-European style of English and humour. Add an unconventional
layout for matrix calculations, and it starts to get a bit
unhelpful. Little to do with engineering.)

Darling D.
Teleportation: The Impossible Leap
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 0471470953 (2005)
(Chapters 1-9 are a nicely written informal account
of the physics relevant to modern teleportation. The
remaining bits are pure SF froth.)


Advanced:

Bruss D., Leuchs G.
Lectures on Quantum Information
Wiley-VCH; ISBN: 3527405275 (2006)
(Lectures, from a large number of presenters at a 2000 summer
school, written up, extended, and brought up to date; so the
style from chapter to chapter is a bit variable. Despite this,
it gives the broadest coverage of 'beyond basic textbook' material
that I have seen in a single book, and gives a very thorough
impression of the state of the art at the time of publication.)

Stolze J., Suter D.
Quantum Computing: A Short Course from Theory to Experiment
Wiley-VCH; ISBN: 3527404384 (2004)
(Leans a little bit too heavily towards physics generally and
experimental physics in particular to make it as a course text.
Pity. Then again it suffers from the wrong-blob problem. Despite
this it's quite a nice account. Experimental physicists will get
a nice warm feeling; others can enjoy it too if they just take
the experimental stuff at face value and go along for the ride.
The only textbook with a more than cursory account of the IBM 15
factorisation.)

Nakahara M., Ohmi T.
Quantum Computing: From Linear Algebra to Physical Realizations
Taylor & Francis; ISBN: 0750309830 (2008)
(A workmanlike account of all the basic material, moving on to a
number of more advanced topics. A slightly non-standard treatment
(from the COMP30222 perspective) of the Shor factorization, is
balanced by a careful account of the arithmetic circuit required,
(the part that most others discuss superficially). The second half
of the book gives the most detailed textbook account of the standard
experimental approaches that I've seen.)

Benenti G., Casati G., Strini G.
Principles of Quantum Computation and Information
Volume II: Basic Tools and Special Topics
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9812565280 (2007)
(Continuing from where Volume I above left off, the book contains
four substantial chapters, on quantum information, decoherence,
error correction and experimental implementations. The thoughtful
and gentle pace of Volume I is continued here, and the authors
manage to cover many advanced topics without getting too heavily
embroiled in the mathematics. The fact that the authors are in
their element on this material shines through the text.)

Audretsch J.
Entangled Systems: New Directions in Quantum Physics
Wiley-VCH; ISBN: 3527406840 (2007)
(A quite gently paced account of all things to do with
entanglement. The unhurried pace extends to a considerably
less rushed treatment of POVMs (and related topics) than
is usually found in textbooks.)

Barnett S.
Quantum Information
Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0198527632 (2009)
(Although a bit skimpy on mathematical detail in places
(with several topics relegated to the appendices), this
is basically a pretty solid treatment of topics connected
with quantum informatiom. Well worth a look.)

Bouwmeester D., Ekert A., Zeilinger A. (eds.)
The Physics of Quantum Information
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540667784 (2000)
(Quite readable if non-elementary accounts of a
selection of relevant topics.)

Alber G., Beth T., Horodecki M., Horodecki P., Horodecki R.,
Rotteler M., Weinfurter H., Werner R., Zeilinger A. 
Quantum Information
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540416668 (2001)
(Not for the faint hearted. As expensive in its material
incarnation as its author list is long. Contents freely
downloadable (at this university).)

Heiss D. (ed.)
Fundamentals of Quantum Information: Quantum Computation,
Communication, Decoherence and All That
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540433678 (2002)
(Intended for a sophisticated physics audience. Contains
a broad range of articles, including up to date surveys of 
a range of experimental investigations.)

Kitaev A., Shen A., Vyalyi M.
Classical and Quantum Computation
American Mathematical Society; ISBN: 0821832298 (2002)
(Excellent leading edge treatment of quantum computing. Advanced
and mathematical, it casually assumes familiarity with many a
nontrivial topic, eg. Lie groups, cohomology. Focuses on compexity
issues from an up to date perspective. And it's terse, very terse.
Many key topics, eg. the halting problem, universal properties of
tensor products, Fourier transforms, quantum teleportation, are
relegated to exercises, though with solutions provided. Very good
if you can take the pace. Very, very terse.)

Jaeger G.
Quantum Information: An Overview
Springer; ISBN: 0387357254 (2006)
(The 'Overview' in the title is right. The author mentions a
large number of topics in the quantum information/computing
field in a relatively small space (albeit with a noticeable
bias towards quantum optics on the experimental side). Hence
'mentions' rather than 'discusses in depth'. Good bibliography.)

Vedral V.
Introduction to Quantum Information Science
Oxford University Press; ISBN: 0199215707 (2006)
(Spuriously opinionated, somewhat buggy and mathematically sloppy,
this is a rather disorganised treatment of a broad and interesting
range of topics, marred by poor execution. Pity. Read Benenti et al.
Vols II and I, or Nielsen and Chuang, or Alber et al., or Jaeger,
or Bruss and Leuchs, or especially Barnett, instead.)

Lomonaco S. (ed.)
Quantum Computation
American Mathematical Society; ISBN: 0821820842 (2002)
(Hastily thrown together proceedings of an AMS Short Course
that took place in 2000. Much flippant writing, and many
interesting topics touched on but not presented properly.
Many careless bugs. Some good bits, but you have to be able
to tell them apart from the ... less good bits. Beautifully
embossed hard cover.)

Brylinski R., Chen G. (eds.) 
Mathematics of Quantum Computation  
CRC Press; ISBN: 1584882824 (2002)
(Rather mixed bag of papers on various aspects of quantum
computing, but no Shor's algorithm! Many of the papers give
a more pure-mathematical treatment than usual, centred around
algebraic geometry techniques. Not an easy read for people who
are not algebraic geometers.)

Stenholm S., Suominen K-A.
Quantum Approach to Informatics
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 0471736104 (2005)
(Don't be fooled by the title, it's a physics book! An interesting
choice of topics at the physics end of the subject is sadly marred
by writing that is too often unclear. The authors know their stuff,
but don't explain it well for the novice.)

Meglicki Z.
Quantum Computing Without Magic: Devices
MIT Press; ISBN: 026213506X (2008)
(Could have been called "Quantum Theory isn't very Quantum Really".
After an enticing Preface, the text gets rather lost in a lot of
low level detail and chatty asides, and the attempts to motivate
quantum structure via essentially non-quantum means don't seem
to persuade as well as the reader had been seduced into hoping.
An interesting idea that somehow doesn't quite come off.)

McMahon D.
Quantum Computing Explained
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 0470096993 (2008)
(Really buggy. Lots of typos, small mistakes, slightly misleading
text, the odd broken sentence. A real pity, because done properly,
it would be right up there as an excellent supplement to any main
text due to its wealth of examples worked out in great detail.)


Online Stuff:

Here you can find copies of the articles mentioned in AE.notes and other
similar material.

Aharonov.ps.gz

Ekert.ps.gz

Rieffel.ps.gz

Steane.ps.gz

The above are shadowed here on our site.

This link leads to a miscellany of stuff out there on the web.


Other Stuff

Aside from quantum computing per se, there is much readable
stuff on the physical background and asociated topics. Here
are some selected items categorised by topic. For each topic,
they are listed in roughly increasing order of muscularity,
the later ones being essentially research references.


Cryptography:

Harmin.slides.pdf
(A set of slides for a telelecture delivered here by Prof. Harmin
from Kentucky, and including a nice overview of RSA and how Shor's
algorithm relates to it.)

Singh S.
The Code Book
Fourth Estate; ISBN: 1857028899 (2000)
(A popular account of cryptography, and a lot better than
most popular accounts of anything.)

Stinson D.
Cryptography
CRC Press; ISBN: 1584885084 (2006)
(A very solid account of cryptography techniques.)

Bauer F.
Decrypted Secrets
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540426744 (2002)
(A nice mixture of solid theory, stories, and entertaining
anecdotes. More entertaining than was perhaps intended.
Some of it reads like a MontyPythonesque excoriation of
a book on German cryptography ... except that it IS a book
on German cryptography :) Look at the stuff on Enigma.)

Schneier B.
Applied Cryptography
John Wiley & Sons Inc; ISBN: 0471117099 (1996)
(Encyclopaedic survey of the field from a practical point
of view. Commenting on key escrow (in 1996), it contains
the chillingly prophetic: 'Imagine a major terrorist attack
on New York; what sorts of limits on the police would be
thrown aside in the aftermath?')

Koblitz N.
A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography
Springer-Verlag New York; ISBN: 0387942939 (1994)
(Does what it says on the tin.)

Yan S.
An Introduction to Formal Languages and Machine Computation
World Scientific Publishing; ISBN: 9810234228 (1997)
(Despite its title it contains an extensive account of
the number theory used in cryptographic applications.)


Approximate and Randomised Algorithms:

There aren't any 'elementary' treatments that deal
exclusively with these topics. Introductory texts
on algorithms sometimes contain a chapter or so on
the basic results in this area. The following are all
specialised and thoroughgoing.

Motwani R., Raghavan P.
Randomized Algorithms
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521474655 (1995)

Ausiello G., Crescenzi P., Gambosi G., Kann V.,
Marchetti-Spaccamela A., Protasi M.
Complexity and Approximation
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540654313 (1999)

Vazirani V.
Approximation Algorithms
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540653678 (1999)

Hromkovic J.
Algorithmics for Hard Problems
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540668608 (2000)


Optics:

Smith F.G., King T.
Optics and Photonics: an Introduction
John Wiley and Sons Ltd; ISBN: 0471489255 (2000)
(Standard introduction, written by experimentalists.)

Hecht E.
Optics
Addison Wesley; ISBN: 0805385665 (2001)
(More comprehensive alternative to above.)

Born M., Wolf E.
Principles of Optics (7th ed.)
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521642221 (1999)
(Venerable Classic.)

Walls D., Milburn G.
Quantum Optics
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540588310 (1995)
(Quantises the electromagnetic field on p.7
and goes on from there.)

Scully M., Zubairy M.,
Quantum Optics 
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521435951 (1997)
(Even more solid than Walls and Milburn.)

Mandel L., Wolf E.
Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521417112 (1995)
(Son of Venerable Classic.)

Puri R.
Mathematical Methods of Quantum Optics
Springer-Verlag Berlin; ISBN: 3540678026 (2000)
(Robust treatment of theoretical topics.)


Quantum Theory:

Rae A.
Quantum Mechanics
The Institute of Physics; ISBN: 0750308397 (2002)
(Up to date introduction.)

Gasiorowicz S.
Quantum Physics
John Wiley and Sons (WIE); ISBN: 0471857378 (1995), ISBN: 0471429457 (2002)
(Standard textbook, now in it's third edition. Following a
trend started earlier in engineering texts, it contains *less*
material than the second edition ... end of the world as we
know it, etc. etc.)

Merzbacher E.
Quantum Mechanics
John Wiley and Sons (WIE); ISBN: 0471887021 (1998)
(Considerably more advanced standard text.)

Auletta G, Fortunato M., Parisi G.
Quantum Mechanics
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521869633 (2009)
(Intended as a textbook for a solid grounding in quantum mechanics,
it nevertheless (to its great credit) features considerably more
engagement with issues  of contemporary conceptual interest, such
as measurement, entanglement etc., than is usually found in such
texts.)

Townsend J.
A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics
University Science Books; ISBN: 1891389130 (2000)
(Inspired by the legendary Feynman Lectures Vol III, this
is the quantum mechanics text nearest in spirit to COMP30222
(if you discount Griffiths's book above as not really being
a textbook). Perhaps the kind of thing that Feynman might
have produced if he had set out to write a textbook, instead
of just to enjoy himself.)

Bohm A.
Quantum Mechanics
Springer Verlag; ISBN: 0387953302 (2001)
(Not for beginners, though excellent if you already
know quantum mechanics. Thorough and uncompromising.
Interestingly idiosyncratic, eg. the hydrogen atom is
done via the Pauli-Bargmann SO(4) technique. Rigged
Hilbert space, Gamow vectors, Berry phase ... the works.)

The preceding all tell you with varying degrees of
thoroughness how to *do* quantum mechanics. However
if you want to know what quantum mechanics *is*, you
must read

Peres A.
Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods
Kluwer Academic Publishers; ISBN: 0792336321 (1998)
(Not for beginners. A truly excellent account of the nontrivial
aspects of nonrelativistic quantum theory from one who knows.)

Aharonov Y., Rohrlich D.
Quantum Paradoxes: Quantum Theory for the Perplexed
Wiley VCH; ISBN: 3527403914 (2005)
(A physics book for physiscists, it goes a long way towards
showing that in quantum theory you can get almost anything
you like if you are ingenious enough. Negative kinetic energy?
No problem at all Sir.  As the authors so eloquently put it:
In Hilbert space no one can hear you scream.)

... and if you want to know everything that anyone ever
thought quantum theory may or may not have been, there is

Auletta G.
Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics:
In the Light of a Critical-Historical Analysis of the
Problems and of a Synthesis of the Results
World Scientific Pub Co; ISBN: 9810246145 (2000)
(Length of text in proportion to length of title. Reads like a
contender for the longest review article ever written, so it's
pretty terse and rarely comes across like a source that you
could conveniently learn from. But it's astonishing for its
comprehensiveness of coverage and analysis of important and
subtle philosophical issues. You have to watch out for the
bugs and for the Italian English (eg. the absolutely delightful
'quantum bats' :-)


Classical Stuff:

Quantum theory did not spring fully formed from nowhere
of course, though it is often presented that way these
days (especially in COMP30222). The following are the most
highly regarded accounts of the prequel.

Goldstein H., Poole C., Safko J.
Classical Mechanics
Addison Wesley; ISBN: 0201657023 (2001)
(Venerable classic recently updated. To get to the
frontier of quantum theory, you need to read as far
as Poisson Brackets (for operator mechanics), and/or
Action-Angle Variables (for wave mechanics and
Schrodinger's equation).)

Jackson J.
Classical Electrodynamics
John Wiley and Sons (WIE); ISBN: 047130932X (1998)
(Venerable classic recently updated. This gets you to
p.7 of Walls and Milburn.)


Finally ...

That 'Snapshots of Innovation' article in full.