The global race to build the world's first quantum computer has attracted enormous investment from government and industry, and it attracts a growing pool of talent. As with many cutting-edge technologies, the optimal implementation is not yet settled. This important textbook describes four of the most advanced platforms for quantum computing: nuclear magnetic resonance, quantum optics, trapped ions, and superconducting systems. The fundamental physical concepts underpinning the practical implementation of quantum computing are reviewed, followed by a balanced analysis of the strengths and weaknesses inherent to each type of hardware. The text includes more than 80 carefully designed exercises with worked solutions available to instructors, applied problems from key scenarios, and suggestions for further reading, facilitating a practical and expansive learning experience. Suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate students in physics, engineering, and computer science, Building Quantum Computers is an invaluable resource for this emerging field.

The rapid development of quantum technologies has driven a revolution in related research areas such as quantum computation and communication, and quantum materials. The first prototypes of functional quantum devices are beginning to appear, frequently created using ensembles of atoms, which allow the observation of sensitive, quantum effects, and have important applications in quantum simulation and matter wave interferometry. This modern text offers a self-contained introduction to the fundamentals of quantum atom optics and atomic many-body matter wave systems. Assuming a familiarity with undergraduate quantum mechanics, this book will be accessible for graduate students and early career researchers moving into this important new field. A detailed description of the underlying theory of quantum atom optics is given, before development of the key, quantum, technological applications, such as atom interferometry, quantum simulation, quantum metrology, and quantum computing.