Learning Quantum

Welcome to Learning Quantum.

Learning quantum computing can be daunting. The resources below are intended to provide an initial introduction into various important topics. Of course, this list is not exhaustive, and will be updated from time to time.

I recommend that you take a quick look at each link, to see how it fits your needs. Some assume a physics background, others are more oriented towards computer science, and others are more math-centric. For the most part, I've selected resources that emphasize computing, rather than quantum mechanics or quantum communications.

Many of these links were collected by Prof. Frank Mueller for our course on Quantum Computing at NC State in Fall 2018 -- CSC 591/ECE 592.

If you only have time to read one thing:

• An Introduction to Quantum Computing for Non-Physicists, Eleanor Rieffel and Wolfgang Polak (2000)

Books

• Quantum Computing: A Gentle Introduction, Eleanor Rieffel and Wolfgang Polak
  The MIT Press, ISBN-13: 978-0262526678, 2014.

  While not as "gentle" as you might hope, this introduction is quite thorough and approachable.

• Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, Michael A. Nielsen and Isaac L. Chuang
  Cambridge Univ Press, ISBN-13: 978-1107002173, 2011.

  Known as "Mike and Ike," this is considered the canonical introduction to the field. Includes physics and engineering content.

• Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction, David Mermin
  Cambridge Univ Press, ISBN-13: 978-0521876582, 2007.

  Some of the notation is a little dated, but this is a very clear explanation of the major quantum algorithms, and the relationship between quantum and classical computation.

• Quantum Algorithms via Linear Algebra: A Primer, Richard J. Lipton and Kenneth W. Regan
  The MIT Press, ISBN-13: 978-0262028394, 2014.

  If you are comfortable with linear algebra, and want a math-oriented introduction, this might be a good start. If you are affiliated with NC State, it's available as an e-book through the library.

• Quantum Computing for Computer Architects (2nd ed.), Tzvetan S. Metodi, Arvin I. Faruque, and Fredric T. Chong
  Morgan & Claypool, Synthesis Lectures on Computer Science, 2011.

  A look at systems-level issues for building scalable quantum computers.

• Adiabatic Quantum Computation and Quantum Annealing: Theory and Practice, Catherin C. McGeoch
  Morgan & Claypool, Synthesis Lectures on Quantum Computing, 2014.

  An introduction and explanation of quantum annealing (QA), the basis for the D-Wave system, and the more more general topic of adiabatic quantum computing (AQC).

Videos

Online courses and video collections that introduce quantum computing.

• EdX course from Berkeley: Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Computation, 2013
• EdX course sequence from TU Delft
  • The Quantum Internet and Quantum Computers: How Will They Change the World?
  • The Building Blocks of a Quantum Computer: Part 1
  • The Building Blocks of a Quantum Computer: Part 2
• EdX course sequence from MIT
  • Quantum Information Science I: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
  • Quantum Information Science II: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Michael Nielsen's YouTube series: Quantum Computing for the Determined

Lecture Notes

• Quantum Computation by David Mermin
• Quantum Computation by Umesh Vazirani
• Quantum Computation by John Preskill
• Theory of Quantum Information and Introduction to Quantum Computing by John Watrous
• Quantum algorithms by Andrew Childs
• Quantum Computing Since Democritus by Scott Aaronson
• Quantum Computing by David Bacon
• Quantum Computation and Information by Ryan O'Donnell, John Wright
• Quantum Computing by Peter Shor
• Qubits, Quantum Mechanics, and Computers by Birgitta Whaley, Kevin Young, Mohan Sarovar
• Topics in Quantum Computing by Don Towsley and Bo Jiang with videos
• Quantum Computing by Ronald de Wolf with full-fledged lecture notes
• Great Ideas in Theoretical Computer Science by Scott Aaronson with lectures on Quantum Computing and Quantum Algorithms

Industry Research and Tools

• IBM Q
  • IBM Q Experience -- public machines, simulators, tools, tutorials
  • Qiskit -- software development
• Microsoft
• Google
• D-Wave
• Rigetti Computing
• IonQ

Papers / Presentations / Other Tools

General

• Design of a Superconducting Quantum Computer, John Martinis
• Software and Architectures for Large-Scale Quantum Computing, Frederic Chong
• Quantum advantage with shallow circuits by Sergey Bravyi, David Gosset, Robert Koenig in arXiv:1704.00690, Apr 2017. Also in Science, Vol. 362, Issue 6412, Oct. 2018, pp. 308-311, slides, video

Simulators

• Quirk: a drag-and-drop quantum circuit simulator
• QX simulator from QuTech (TU Delft and TNO)
• See industry links above: IBM, Rigetti, Microsoft, D-Wave
• List of QC simulators

Compilers, Languages

• ScaffCC: compiler for the Scaffold language
  • ScaffCC: Scalable Compilation and Analysis of Quantum Programs, Ali JavadiAbhari, Daniel Kudrow, Jeff Heckey, Alexey Lvov, Frederic Chong, Margaret Martonosi. arXiv:1507.01901, July 2015. Also in Parallel Computing, Vol. 45, June 2015, pp. 2-17.
• Quipper: functional language for quantum computing

Error Correction

• Quantum Error Correction for Beginners, Simon J. Devitt, Kai Nemoto, William J. Munro. arXiv:0905.2794, June 2013. Also in Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 76, No. 7, June 2013.
• Surface codes: Toward practical large-scale quantum computation, Austin G. Fowler, Matteo Mariantoni, John M. Martinis, Andrew N. Cleland. arXiv:1208.0928, Oct 2012. Also in Physical Review A, Vol. 86, No. 032324, Sept 2012.

Applications

• Machine Learning: Supervised learning with quantum enhanced feature spaces, Vojtech Havlicek, Antonio D. Corcoles, Kristan Temme, Aram W. Harrow, Abhinav Kandala, Jerry M. Chow, Jay M. Gambetta, arXiv:1804.11326, June 2018.
• Financial Risk Analysis: Quantum Risk Analysis, Stefan Woerner, Daniel J. Egger, arXiv:1806.06893, June 2018. Also in npj Quantum Information, Vol. 5, Article 15, Feb 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-019-0130-6
• Chemistry: Hardware-efficient variational quantum eigensolver for small molecules and quantum magnets, Abhinav Kandala, Antonio Mezzacapo, Kristan Temme, Maika Takita, Markus Brink, Jerry M. Chow, Jay M. Gambetta, arXiv:1704.05018, Oct 2017. Also in Nature, Vol. 549, Sept 2017, pp. 242-246.