As superconducting circuits emerge as a leading platform for scalable quantum information processing, building comprehensive bridges from the foundational principles of macroscopic quantum phenomena to the architecture of modern quantum devices is increasingly essential for introducing new researchers to the field. This tutorial provides a self-contained, pedagogical introduction to superconducting quantum circuits at the undergraduate level. Beginning with an overview of superconductivity and the Josephson effect, the tutorial systematically develops the quantization of microwave circuits into the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED). The transmon qubit is then introduced as a state-of-the-art application, with a detailed derivation of its Hamiltonian and its interaction with control and readout circuitry. The theoretical formalism is consolidated through a numerical simulation of vacuum Rabi oscillations in a driven transmon-resonator system, a canonical experiment that demonstrates the coherent energy exchange characteristic of the strong coupling regime. This work serves as a foundational guide and first point of contact, equipping students and researchers with the conceptual and mathematical tools necessary to understand and engineer superconducting quantum hardware.
This preprint has not undergone peer review or any post-submission improvements or corrections. The Version of Record of this article is published in Brazilian Journal of Physics and is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13538-025-01983-8
As superconducting circuits emerge as a leading platform for scalable quantum information processing, building comprehensive bridges from the foundational principles of macroscopic quantum phenomena to the architecture of modern quantum devices is increasingly essential for introducing new researchers to the field. This tutorial provides a self-contained, pedagogical introduction to superconducting quantum circuits at the undergraduate level. Beginning with an overview of superconductivity and the Josephson effect, the tutorial systematically develops the quantization of microwave circuits into the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED). The transmon qubit is then introduced as a state-of-the-art application, with a detailed derivation of its Hamiltonian and its interaction with control and readout circuitry. The theoretical formalism is consolidated through a numerical simulation of vacuum Rabi oscillations in a driven transmon-resonator system, a canonical experiment that demonstrates the coherent energy exchange characteristic of the strong coupling regime. This work serves as a foundational guide and first point of contact, equipping students and researchers with the conceptual and mathematical tools necessary to understand and engineer superconducting quantum hardware.
The precise engineering of electromagnetic couplings is paramount for constructing scalable and high-fidelity superconducting quantum processors. While essential for orchestrating qubit operations, these couplings also present significant design challenges, including the mitigation of crosstalk and the management of environmental decoherence. A clear and unified theoretical framework is therefore crucial for the design, simulation, and analysis of these complex quantum circuits. This paper presents a comprehensive theoretical treatment of the fundamental electromagnetic coupling mechanisms in superconducting devices. Starting from first principles, we formulate the equations of motion and derive the input-output relations for canonical systems, including a single resonator coupled to a multi-port microwave network, interacting resonators, and coupled transmission lines. We review rigorous definitions for key parameters such as the energy decay rate (κ) and the dimensionless coupling coefficient (ζ) and connect these formalisms to practical methods of parameter extraction from electromagnetic simulations. This work provides a rigorous and pedagogical foundation for understanding and modeling linear electromagnetic interactions, serving as a vital resource for the development of advanced superconducting quantum hardware.
In the last two decades, a spectacular development in the superconducting qubits has been accomplished experimentally as well as theoretically. The main reason for that is the realization that superconducting qubits can play a crucial role in the emergent field of quantum information processing and quantum computing. The interaction of superconducting qubits with the quantized electromagnetic field leads to make the circuit quantum electrodynamics, inspired by cavity quantum electrodynamics. The field of superconducting qubits and circuit QED is fast growing and branching to diverse applications in multidisciplinary fields. This makes it harder for first-time readers to follow-up. Therefore, this article is targeting to introduce in an intuitive way the topic of superconducting qubit and circuit QED by giving all the mathematical background, Lagrangian formalism for electric circuits, interaction Hamiltonian, and contextual physical interpretation essential to anew scientists and engineers planning to be specialized in this field as well as portraying a wide vantage for higher studies through the suggested recommendation resulted from the simulated examples and written code based on Python packages and Qiskit software. In this article, the superconducting qubits, transmon and fluxonium, are reviewed after introducing the abstract definition of a quantum bit. Moreover, light-matter interaction in fluxonium qubit and quantization of transmission line resonator are discussed briefly. Some of the simulated systems such as the energy levels of fluxonium as a function of offset flux are presented. Finally, applications of superconducting qubits in quantum computing and other fields such as quantum transistors, quantum machines and metamaterials are discussed. Index Terms Superconducting qubits, circuit QED, quantum logic gate, fluxonium, transmon.
The new and rapidly growing field of circuit QED offers extremely exciting prospects for learning about and exercising intimate control over quantum systems, providing flexible, engineerable design and strong nonlinearities and interactions in systems consisting of microwave radiation fields and fixed artificial "atoms". These notes aim to provide a non-expert introduction to the field of circuit QED, to give a basic appreciation of the promise and challenges of the field, along with a number of key concepts that will hopefully be useful for the reader who is new to the field and beginning to explore the research literature. They were written as a pedagogical text designed to complement a course delivered to third-year undergraduate students. After a introductory section which discusses why studying circuit QED might be worthwhile and interesting, I introduce the basic theory tools from quantum optics and quantum information which are needed to understand the key elements of circuit QED. I also provide a brief overview of superconductivity, focussing on the concepts which are most relevant to operation in the regimes of interest in circuit QED. I then describe the three main types of superconducting qubits, and finally give a basic introduction to decoherence and mixture and how they relate to quantum behaviour in electronic circuits.
The aim of this review is to provide quantum engineers with an introductory guide to the central concepts and challenges in the rapidly accelerating field of superconducting quantum circuits. Over the past twenty years, the field has matured from a predominantly basic research endeavor to a one that increasingly explores the engineering of larger-scale superconducting quantum systems. Here, we review several foundational elements—qubit design, noise properties, qubit control, and readout techniques—developed during this period, bridging fundamental concepts in circuit quantum electrodynamics and contemporary, state-of-the-art applications in gate-model quantum computation.
Superconducting qubits, realized by incorporating Josephson junctions into superconducting circuits, behave as artificial atoms with anharmonic energy spectra and can be precisely controlled and measured using microwave cavities within the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED). Since its emergence in the early 2000s, cQED has established superconducting qubits as leading candidates for scalable quantum devices and has enabled the exploration of hybrid quantum systems that integrate disparate physical platformsThis review surveys superconducting hybrid quantum electromechanical systems in which mechanical resonators are coupled to superconducting qubits, with a focus on two widely used qubit platforms: the transmon and the fluxonium. We provide an overview of the underlying coupling mechanisms arising from interactions through the phase and charge degrees of freedom of the qubit, and discuss how these mechanisms give rise to both longitudinal and transverse qubit-mechanical interactions. We further review extensions of electromechanical platforms to electro-optomechanical architectures, in which optical cavities are integrated to enable coherent interfacing between superconducting circuits and optical photons. This review aims to present a unified framework and perspective on qubit-mechanical and qubit-mechanical-optical hybrid systems in superconducting quantum technologies and applications related to sensors.
This tutorial aims at giving an introductory treatment of the circuit analysis of superconducting qubits, i.e., two-level systems in superconducting circuits.It also touches upon couplings between such qubits and how microwave driving and these couplings can be used for single-and two-qubit gates, as well as how to include noise when calculating the dynamics of the system.We also discuss higher-dimensional superconducting qudits.The tutorial is intended for new researchers with limited or no experience with the field but should be accessible to anyone with a bachelor's degree in physics.The tutorial introduces the basic methods used in quantum circuit analysis, starting from a circuit diagram and ending with a quantized Hamiltonian, that may be truncated to the lowest levels.We provide examples of all the basic techniques throughout the discussion, while in the last part of the tutorial we discuss several of the most commonly used circuits for quantum-information applications.This includes both worked examples of single qubits and examples of how to analyze the coupling methods that allow multiqubit operations.In several detailed appendices, we provide the interested reader with an introduction to more advanced techniques for handling larger circuit designs.