Syllabus for Fundamentals of Quantum Computation

This course is an introductory level course on the fundamentals of quantum computing.

The main material consists of Jupyter notebooks, and the preparation of these notebooks was inspired by the workshops of the QWorld community called Bronze, Nickel and Silver. In addition to the algorithms mentioned in these workshops, other algorithms and the hardware of existing quantum computers will also be covered in this course.

Prerequisites

In order to get the most out of this course, knowledge on both Python programming language and quantum mechanics is a must. For the programming part, it is sufficient to know the Python language enough to be able to use variables, basic data types, loops and conditions. If you have no experience with the Python language, you can follow the Python notebooks presented in the material on github. For the quantum mechanics foundation, it will be sufficient to be able to manipulate two-state quantum systems in Dirac notation. Apart from these two prerequisites, knowledge on matrix algebra will make the learning process easier for the student.

Before the first lecture

Lecture notes are prepared as Jupyter notebooks and stored in a repo on the github organization of Marmara University, Physics Department. As a first step, you should send a request to join the of the lecture, here.

There are several options to follow the notebooks. In order to study locally, you should install the Anaconda on your computer along with Qiskit and Cirq libraries. You can find the instructions here. Then you should clone (or download) the repo to your local and run them via anaconda server.

Another way to follow the notes is to employ a suitable cloud application to run Jupyter notebooks. Google Colab or QBraid to name a few, but you have freedom of choice here. However, the important point is that the notebooks should run properly.

After these preparations, the notebook named "Start_here" can be opened and all materials can be accessed.

During the semester

The main sections that will be covered in this course are listed below. The amount of self-study time a student should allocate for each section is 2-3 hours.

• Quantum programs as circuits, Quantum bits

• Quantum states, Superposition & measurement

• Quantum operators, rotations and reflections

• Two qubits, phase kickback, entanglement, superdense coding

• Quantum teleportation, Multiple control constructions

• Conventional Quantum Algorithms

• Quantum Hardware: Current Status and Open Research Areas

• Combinatorial Optimization Problems (COPs)

• Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA)

• QAOA Applications to Scientific COPs: Magnetic Materials

• QAOA Applicationsto Industrial COPs: Knapsack Problem

• QAOA Student Projects

Resources

• Lecture notes on GitHub

• IBM Qiskit Textbook

• Google Cirq Tutorials

Success conditions

In this course, there will be 1 midterm exam, 1 semester projects and several homeworks during the semester and 1 final exam at the end of the semester. The formulas for the pass grade are as follows:

Midterm Grade = 0.3 * Midterm Exam Grade + 0.35 * Mean of the Homework Grades + 0.35 * Semester Project Grade

Final Grade = Final Exam Grade

Passing Grade = 0.6 * Midterm Grade + 0.4 * Final Grade

Homeworks will be sent to the student via the Canvas system, and the student will be expected to complete this assignment within declared time. In order for a homework to be considered completed, at least 25 points out of 100 must be received from the assignment. The student may redo the homeworks an unlimited number of times within the allowed time period. The latest score obtained in these attempts will be evaluated as the student's homework grade. The grade of assignments for which at least 25 points cannot be obtained within the defined period will be considered as 0 points.

Sample Homework Question:

Let's say you have a rigged coin where the probability of getting heads is 0.8. Which of the following results are you likely to get when you throw this coin 1000 times? (8 points) 

a. Heads: 802, Heads: 198

b. Heads: 502, Heads: 498

c. Heads: 320, Heads: 980

d. Heads: 203, Heads: 797

In addition to test questions, assignments include fill-in-the-blank questions, multiple-choice questions, true-false questions, code snippet writing questions, etc. There will also be questions.