A simple two-gate sequence prepares a two-qubit state with exactly two correlated branches. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

Put the control qubit in two branches

Start with the control qubit in zero. An H gate makes two equal control branches with amplitude one over square root of 2.

H0=120+121H\lvert 0\rangle = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\lvert 0\rangle + \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\lvert 1\rangle
Control superpositionThe first qubit is prepared as two equal branches.state1 zero0 onestate1/sqrt(2) zero1/sqrt(2) oneHgate

Attach a target initialized to zero

Before CNOT, the two-qubit state has the same two control branches and a target zero in each branch.

120,0+121,0\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\lvert 0,0\rangle + \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\lvert 1,0\rangle
CNOT inputThe CNOT input has support only on zero-zero and one-zero.state1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone1/sqrt(2) onezero0 oneonestate1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone0 onezero1/sqrt(2) oneoneCNOTgate

CNOT flips only the target branch with control one

CNOT leaves zero-zero unchanged and maps one-zero to one-one. The two surviving branches now carry matching bit values.

inputoutput0,00,01,01,1\begin{array}{c|c}\text{input}&\text{output}\\\lvert 0,0\rangle&\lvert 0,0\rangle\\\lvert 1,0\rangle&\lvert 1,1\rangle\end{array}
CNOT outputThe output support is zero-zero and one-one.state1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone1/sqrt(2) onezero0 oneonestate1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone0 onezero1/sqrt(2) oneoneCNOTgate

The output is a correlated two-qubit state

The state is not four equally likely rows. It has exactly two branches, each with probability one half.

outcomeP0,0120,101,001,112\begin{array}{c|c}\text{outcome}&P\\\lvert 0,0\rangle&\frac{1}{2}\\\lvert 0,1\rangle&0\\\lvert 1,0\rangle&0\\\lvert 1,1\rangle&\frac{1}{2}\end{array}
Prepared Bell pairThe gate output and the probability table agree.state1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone1/sqrt(2) onezero0 oneonestate1/sqrt(2) zerozero0 zeroone0 onezero1/sqrt(2) oneoneCNOTgate