Quantum bits (qubits) are quantum mechanical two-level systems which fulfill certain practical criteria required for quantum computing. In the linear regime of small excitations, the dynamics of classical coupled oscillators, such as physical pendula, resemble the qubit dynamics. In that sense, oscillators might be used to visualize the wave mechanics of a qubit.

The lecture will comprise an experimentally motivated introduction to quantum dot based qubits and related experiments, with a focus on the coherent dynamics of qubits. Using macroscopic physical pendula, we will then explore a descriptive classical equivalent of qubits and compare the classical solutions with the quantum mechanical prediction.  Throughout the lecture we will work out the analogies and differences bewteen the dynamics of a qubit versus that of a classsical coherent system.

The lecture builds on basic skills of both, classical and quantum mechanics. It will impart a variety of experimental ideas based on semiconductor quantum dots and macroscopic pendula with modulated coupling and consolidate important concepts including driven quantum mechanical two-level systems or classical coupled oscillators, Rabi oscillations, Landau-Zener transitions, and Fourier transformations, among other things.