1. Experience Teaching Quantum Computing
Charles C. Tappert, Ronald I. Frank, Istvan Barabasi, Avery M. Leider, Daniel Evans, and Lewis Westfall
Seidenberg School of CSIS
Pace University, New York

2. Agenda Introduction Teaching a Graduate Course in Quantum Computing
Teaching the Projects Component of Graduate Course
Teaching High School Students
Constructing a Quantum Demonstration
Quantum Computing is a Rich Area with Opportunity
for teaching courses
for funding from the federal government
for employment for our students
for strengthening our nation’s economic future

3. Quantum Computing Race
There is a quantum computing race among the tech giants Google, IBM, and Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Amazon and China’s Alibaba
Governments, particularly America and China, are funding work in the area with the concern that quantum-computers may soon become large enough to crack current cryptosystems, specifically RSA, giving the country that gets there first a major advantage
IBM has heavy usage on their Q Experience quantum simulator with more than 90,000 users who have run 5,000 experiments and published 110 papers

4. University Activity and Degrees
91 universities worldwide have some activity in quantum computing
None currently offers a degree specifically in quantum computing, rather making it an elective course, or at most a specialization in their physics or math program
Some universities plan future investment in the area
Cornell University’s McMahon Lab emphasizes quantum computation and will officially begin operation in July 2019
A recent MIT News article says its quantum computing effort is being inhibited by a shortage of quantum workers

5. Funding in Quantum Computing
There is considerable funding now available
In the U.S. in January 2019, the National Quantum Initiative Act, authorizing $1.2 billion in investment over the next 5-10 years, was signed into law, and is being organized now into different areas that researchers can apply to for funding in quantum computing

6. Quantum Computing Graduate Course
For the last two years, we have offered a quantum computing course for Computer Science PhD and advanced M.S. students
The course meets for three hours weekly, in the evening so working students can attend, for a semester total of 14 weeks
Separate weekly hour sessions are held for math instruction
Separate weekly hour sessions are held for project instruction
Textbooks:
Quantum Computing: A Gentle Introduction (Rieffel & Polak, 2014)
Problems and Solutions in Quantum Computing (Steeb & Hardy, 2018)
Mastering Quantum Computing with IBM QX (Moran, 2019)
This high-level course demonstrates that our computing school provides a leading-edge technology education to our students

7. Quantum Computing Graduate Course
The course provides students with an introduction to the theory and practice of quantum computing
Topics covered include
quantum computing circuits, particularly quantum gates, and comparison with classical computing gates and circuits
quantum algorithms, including quantum cryptography
mathematical models of quantum computation
quantum error correcting techniques
We also spend a day during the semester visiting IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center to see actual quantum computers and hear related presentations by IBM researchers

8. Quantum Computing Graduate Course
Ten to twenty students take the course – the majority are PhD in Computer Science (CS) students with a few advanced CS Masters students.
Assessment is based on
the project work and student presentations 40%
midterm exam 20%
final exam 40%, which also serves as a qualifying exam for the PhD students

9. Quantum Computing Graduate Course Learning Objectives
Learn the background material in physics, math, and CS necessary to comprehend quantum computing
Understand quantum computing gates and circuits, and comparison with classical computing gates and circuits
Understand quantum Fourier transform and its applications
Understand quantum search algorithms
Understand the physical realization of quantum computers
Understand quantum operations, noise, and error correction
Understand quantum information theory and its comparison to traditional information theory
Understand in detail the central results of quantum computing
Develop expertise in writing programs for quantum computers

10. Teaching Projects Component of Course
Student projects utilize hands-on labs with simplified quantum program development, live code executions, and projects performed on IBM’s Quantum Experience Platform with access to real Quantum Computers
We use several Quantum Computing Science Kits to teach students quantum computing technology
The objective is for students to gain practical experience via lab exercises and to develop projects to solve relevant and practical problems using quantum computing programs

11. Teaching Projects Component of Course
The projects involved three types of problems that were coded mostly using IBM’s Quantum Computing Assembler Language (QASM) and Python
1. Well-defined quantum computing experiments, such as placing qubits in superposition and implementing quantum entanglement
2. Optimizations, such as the traveling salesman problem
3. Practical problems, such as financial portfolio optimization

12. Teaching High School Students
We have taught short courses at several high schools
For example, a 5-day course was taught in the 12th grade at a Brooklyn high school
Day 1 – quantum bit (qubit), |ket> notation for vectors, explanation of gates, matrix notation for kets and gates
Day 2 – superposition and entanglement
Day 3 – Grover’s algorithm
Day 4 – return to superposition and entanglement, present Bloch sphere representation of a qubit
Day 5 – students split into teams, each team reworked set of instructor slides into their own

13. Teaching High School Students
IBM Composer for Creating Quantum Programs

14. Teaching High School Students
Day 5 – student survey ranked topics of interest

15. Quantum Entanglement
Quantum entanglement occurs when pairs of particles are generated such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the other, even when the particles are separated by a large distance
Einstein referred to this as "spooky action at a distance"

16. Photon Polarization Demonstration
Quantum computing is a beautiful combination of quantum physics, CS, and information theory
Quantum bits are the fundamental units of information in quantum computing, just as bits are fundamental units in classical computing
Just as there are many ways to realize classical bits, there are many ways to realize qubits
We examine the behavior of polarized photons, a possible realization of quantum bits

17. Photon Polarization Demonstration
A simple experiment illustrates some of the non-intuitive behavior of quantum systems
Minimal equipment required
Laser pointer and three polarized lenses (polaroids) available from any camera supply store
Common polarized lenses
Polarized sunglasses are polarized vertically to filter out glare which is mostly polarized horizontally
And 3D movie glasses contain a pair of different polarizing filters to see the same scene from slightly different perspectives

18. Photon Polarization Demonstration
Demonstration procedure:
Insert polaroid A to filter horizontally, insert C to also filter horizontally, then slowly rotate C vertically to block the horizontally polarized photons
Then insert polaroid B and rotate it to allow photons to pass
Explain what is happening
Image from Rieffel & Polak (2014)

19. Photon Polarization Demonstration
Because it is difficult to have students hold a laser pointer, three filters, and a screen, we purchased a laboratory rack to hold these items
Rack with holders and screen, laser pointer, and three polarization filters for hands-on demos

20. Photon Polarization Demonstration
Inserting polaroid B surprisingly allows light to appear on the screen, so clearly the polaroids cannot be acting as simple sieves
When polaroid B with preferred axis is inserted, half the photons get through B at 45o since
Similarly, half of these photons get through C

21. Photon Polarization Demonstration
Although the results of this experiment can be explained classically in terms of waves
The same experiment can be performed with more sophisticated equipment using a single-photon emitter to yield the same results
Single-photon results can be explained only with quantum physics probabilities
Einstein was not too happy with such probabilistic explanations saying “God does not play with dice”

22. Summary Area of Quantum Computing is exciting
There is a quantum computing race among the tech giants Google, IBM, Microsoft, and others
Governments, particularly America and China, are funding work in the area with the aim of cracking current cryptosystems and ruling the world
We have shared our experiences in
Teaching a Quantum Computing Graduate Course
Teaching the Projects Component of the Course
Teaching High School Students
Constructing a Quantum Demonstration

23. Conclusions Quantum Computing is a Rich Area with Opportunity
for teaching courses
for obtaining funding from the federal govt
for employment for our students
for strengthening our nation’s economic future