Algorithmic cooling
A qubit (or quantum bit) is a unit of information that can be in a superposition of two states, denoted as formula_1 and formula_2. The general superposition can be written as formula_3where formula_4 and formula_5. If one measures the state of the qubit in the orthonormal basis composed of formula_1 and formula_2, one gets the result formula_1 with probability formula_9 and the result formula_2 with probability formula_11.
Optical transistor
A more elaborate application of optical transistors is the development of an optical digital computer in which components process photons rather than electrons. Further, optical transistors that operate using single photons could form an integral part of quantum information processing where they can be used to selectively address individual units of quantum information, known as qubits.