The high public attention given to quantum computing shows that it is perceived as an interesting topic. We want to utilize this motivating effect for the teaching and learning of quantum physics. Specifically, we want to take advantage of the access to real quantum computers, which various providers make available free of charge. We show a direct and straightforward way to use quantum computers in an introductory course on quantum physics. We use an algorithm that solves a simple and easily understandable problem while providing a quantum advantage. The algorithm we propose is a simple game in which the use of quantum physics offers a winning advantage. The game is called Quantum Penny Flip and was proposed by David A. Meyer back in 1999. It can be easily reformulated to be described by quantum gates. We can therefore use it to teach the programming of a quantum computer. We demonstrate its implementation in IBM's Quantum Composer.
The high public attention given to quantum computing shows that it is perceived as an interesting topic. We want to utilize this motivating effect for the teaching and learning of quantum physics. Specifically, we want to take advantage of the access to real quantum computers, which various providers make available free of charge. We show a direct and straightforward way to use quantum computers in an introductory course on quantum physics. We use an algorithm that solves a simple and easily understandable problem while providing a quantum advantage. The algorithm we propose is a simple game in which the use of quantum physics offers a winning advantage. The game is called Quantum Penny Flip and was proposed by David A. Meyer back in 1999. It can be easily reformulated to be described by quantum gates. We can therefore use it to teach the programming of a quantum computer. We demonstrate its implementation in IBM's Quantum Composer.
Quantum computing bases on the exploitation of quantum mechanics to create computation systems. It inherits its benefits from quantum mechanics, but also its difficulties: quantum mechanics are counter-intuitive and hard to learn or even accept, even for its iconic mentors. This makes teaching quantum computing very challenging. Serious games are games with a serious purpose, such as learning, training or social awareness. The present work describes the development of a serious game for the purpose of learning quantum computing concepts. It deals with qubits, qubit states, superposition and the flip and Hadamard gates. The game was made freely available to play with few system requirements to get to a broad audience. Also, its source code was made publicly available to modify and redistribute with no strings attached. The authors feel that the objectives of this work were met, but there is further work to be done regarding the evaluation and improvement of the game.
As quantum computers are becoming available for experiments, their enormous potential is being recognized among college communities. The goal of introducing quantum computing in college level computer science programs is becoming attractive. However, this goal comes with opportunities and challenges. of the challenges is that quantum computing appears to require substantial background in physics as well as in computer science. However, it is hard to convince students to major in these two fields. Computer Science students with a minor in physics can also be considered. Several alternative curriculum structures are possible. A non-consecutive two-course framework is proposed here. A course on Introduction to Quantum Computing may be offered to sophomore level students. This introductory course may teach fundamental ideas about quantum computing with basic concepts behind BQP (Bounded Error Quantum Polynomial) and related topics. This introductory course may be followed up by some physics courses (on related topics such as quantum mechanics) and some computer science courses. Then, a senior level course on Advanced Quantum Computing may be offered that may include some well-known algorithms (such as Shor's Algorithm for Quantum Factorization and Grover's Algorithm for Quantum Search) and their implementation and practices on some simulators (such as QuIDE from http://www.quide.eu/) or some prototype quantum processors (such as IBM's prototype quantum processors). For advanced level courses, some course materials are available from various sources (such as MIT OpenCourseWare). The greater challenge would be in teaching the introductory course mentioned earlier that motivates students towards investing time and efforts in learning quantum computing and related physics, math and computational topics. The challenges of teaching the introductory course should not be underestimated. Some flexible strategies can be suggested for this course so that the biggest challenges can be overcome. Some initial assessments of the students may help adjusting the introduction strategies with student's preparation. What is recommended is that the instructor should be able to adjust the coverage of topics, rigor and depth of treatment. That is, the introductory course should not be rigidly defined. It should be recognized that the main emphasis of the introductory course is actually instilling motivations and curiosity in student's mind about potentials of quantum computing through adaptive teaching of some selected topics where traditional digital computers do not provide tractable solutions. Ideally a balance could be achieved among aspects of depth of treatment, rigor, inspiration, motivation and coverage of topics. Students should be able to realize that the emerging quantum computing technology would be able to provide elegant solutions to some of the classical intractable problems combining ideas from physics, math and computer science in an innovative way. One size fits all is not a good approach and discussion of issues may help us face the challenges better by pragmatically considering a range of possible alternatives. Resources that are currently available may also need to be reviewed for the purpose of introducing quantum computing adequately.
Quantum computing will likely change our world as we know it today. In bringing together fields such as quantum mechanics, mathematics, and computer science in their construction and application, quantum computers hold a promise of tremendous increase in processing power when compared to present day technology. For an educator, teaching this topic requires that consideration be given to the fact that quantum computing is not only based on hard-to-teach aspects of physics, math, and computing, but that quantum computing itself is still in the early stages of its development. What is certain is that concepts such as Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms have already been developed specifically for use with quantum computing. Both algorithms are the beneficiaries of quantum properties such as superposition and entanglement which are at the core of the new technology. This paper is presented in a bottom up structure starting with the explanation of the basic component, the qubit, before moving to superposition and entanglement and ending with a lucid explanation of both of the algorithms. Due to the complex nature of the topic, teaching this subject requires that certain measures be taken to teach all students at all levels and have them feel comfortable within themselves about the topic. The course is meant for anyone who wants to learn quantum computing. It is furthermore recommended that those attending have a blank slate so we start with new students. We would like to see a variety of students taking and passing the course, with that in mind, the explanations of the topics are done without employing an excessive amount of math common to other courses in quantum computing. The recommended approach for teaching is through the use of videos and a curriculum which is broken down so topics are made more general and the discussion of that effort is the main focus
Quantum Computing is widely perceived to be one of the ways forward in the future of computation as the end of Moore’s law is almost here. Instead of using bits in classical computers, quantum computers manipulate qubits which are governed by the phenomena of superposition and entanglement. In this paper, we demonstrate the relevance of quantum computing in game theory and database search applications. Through a simple example of coin tossing, we show how it is possible to organise a game where one player adopting a quantum strategy is guaranteed to win. It is also shown that the other player, using a second coin (qubit), can subvert this action to award the wins to themselves without the first player’s knowledge. In another application, a modified Grover’s database search algorithm is applied to clone an arbitrary quantum state of a qubit to a duplicate qubit. In both cases, the comparison of simulated and actual results emphasises on the hardware limitations of the current error-prone quantum computers. The quantum computer programs are designed using quantum gates and simulated in the Quantum Information Software Kit before testing on the IBM Q 5.1 (ibmqx4) quantum computer.
This paper presents a minimalist teaching-learning sequence for quantum computation in secondary education (5 × 60 minutes) grounded in the photon polarization approach. The framework has been tailored to the secondary school level education omitting complex numbers, matrices, and programming while relying on physics concepts with which students are already familiar from photon polarization. Employing a design-based research methodology, we identified the minimal set of concepts necessary for conceptual understanding: Dirac notation, the X and H quantum gates, and the quantum advantage demonstrated using the penny flip game as an example, which was tested on a real quantum computer. Students also explore the B92 cryptographic protocol and quantum entanglement in this course.
The challenge of programming classical computers to play traditional, competitive games against human players has helped to advance classical hardware and software. Quantum computers have the potential to play games in a unique way: programmed \textit{only} with the rules of a game, they should be able to implicitly represent all future paths of a game leading to wins, losses, or draws, and to sample from this path set to identify moves that maximize the likelihood of a win. This permits skilled play without hard-coded or machine-learned strategy. As a proof of principle, we present early results obtained after programming the D-Wave quantum annealer with the rules of tic-tac-toe, enabling it to play against a human or classical computer opponent. We anticipate that, as it has for classical computers, game-playing will serve as an important real-world benchmark for quantum computers.