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.
Phase qubit
The phase qubit uses the lowest two energy levels in the local minimum; the ground state formula_51 is the "zero state" of the qubit, and the first excited state formula_52 is the "one state". The slope in the washboard potential is set by the bias current formula_2, and changes in this current change the washboard potential, changing the shape of the local minimum (equivalently, changing the value of the nonlinear inductance, as discussed above). This changes the energy difference between the ground and first excited states. Hence the phase qubit has a tunable energy splitting.