# CNOT gate
controlled-NOT gate has two qubit input: control and target.
## CNOT on computational basis
| a | b | $CNOT\ket a\ket b$ | $XOR(a,b)$ |
| --- | --- | ------------------ | ---------- |
| 0 | 0 | $\ket {00}$ | 0 |
| 0 | 1 | $\ket {01}$ | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | $\ket {11}$ | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | $\ket {10}$ | 0 |
CNOT is the same as logic XOR : $\text{CNOT}|a,b\rangle=|a, a\oplus b\rangle$ for $a,b\in\{0,1\}$
note: CNOT can be applied on qubits in superposition and not only on computational basis.
## CNOT quantum circuit
```
a: ─────●─────
│
out: ───⊕─────
```
## Exercise
assume $|a\rangle=\alpha|0\rangle+\beta|1\rangle$ , $|b\rangle=\gamma|0\rangle+\delta|1\rangle$ . compute $cnot\ket{a,b}$.
Solution: we have,
$
\begin{align}
|a,b\rangle &= (\alpha|0\rangle+\beta|1\rangle)\otimes(\gamma|0\rangle+\delta|1\rangle) \\
&=\alpha\gamma|00\rangle+\alpha\delta|01\rangle+\beta\gamma|10\rangle+\beta\delta|11\rangle \\
\end{align}
$
And so,
$
\begin{align}
\text{CNOT}|a,b\rangle&=\text{CNOT}(\alpha\gamma|00\rangle+\alpha\delta|01\rangle+\beta\gamma|10\rangle+\beta\delta|11\rangle) \\
&=\text{CNOT}\big(|0\rangle(\alpha\gamma|0\rangle+\alpha\delta|1\rangle)+|1\rangle(\beta\gamma|0\rangle+\beta\delta|1\rangle)\big)\\
&= \alpha\gamma|0\rangle+\alpha\delta|1\rangle + X(\beta\gamma|0\rangle+\beta\delta|1\rangle) \\
&=\alpha\gamma|0\rangle+\alpha\delta|1\rangle + \beta\gamma|1\rangle+\beta\delta|0\rangle \\
&=(\alpha\gamma+\beta\delta)|0\rangle +(\alpha\delta+\beta\gamma)|1\rangle
\end{align}
$
Related: [[Bell state]]
Tag: #tech
## Created 2026-01-14 15:25