Quantum Computing in the Lab

Dipankar Bhattacharyya, Jyotirmoy Guha

Pasin A., Ferrari Dacrema M., Cunha W. +3 more

The emerging field of Quantum Computing (QC) is attracting considerable research interest due to its potential. It is in fact believed that QC could revolutionize the way we approach complex problems by significantly reducing the time required to solve them. Although QC is still in its early stages of development, certain problems can already be addressed using quantum computers, offering a glimpse into its capabilities. The goal of the QuantumCLEF lab is to raise awareness of QC and to design, develop, and evaluate new QC algorithms aimed at solving challenges typically encountered in the implementation of Information Retrieval (IR) and Recommender Systems (RS). Furthermore, the lab provides a valuable opportunity to engage with QC technologies, which are often difficult to access. In this work, we present an overview of the second edition of QuantumCLEF, a lab focused on applying Quantum Annealing (QA), a specific QC paradigm, to three tasks: Feature Selection for IR and RS systems, Instance Selection for IR systems, and Clustering for IR systems. A total of 44 teams registered for the lab, with 5 teams successfully submitting their runs in accordance with the lab guidelines. Given the novelty of the topics, participants were provided with extensive examples and comprehensive materials to help them understand how QA works and how to program quantum annealers.

Benjamin Heinz, Jai Gupta

As part of the Illinois Wesleyan University physics department’s Quantum Science and Technology (QST) initiative, we have been developing a series of computational labs with twin foci; one on near-term applications of quantum computing in Quantum Chemistry, the other on preparing incoming students to use quantum algorithms on cloud platforms for Quantum Computing. These computational labs will deepen the students’ understanding of fundamental concepts in quantum mechanics, linear algebra, and quantum chemistry while building, in parallel, their technical competence with quantum computers. These computational labs will further enhance the current curriculum of the QST concentration, and might also serve as a blueprint for other educational institutions seeking to train the next-generation quantum workforce.

Stefano Patarnello

Janche Sang, Chansu Yu

This report presents a practical approach to teaching quantum computing to Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS) students through dedicated hands-on programming labs. The labs cover a diverse range of topics, encompassing fundamental elements, such as entanglement, quantum gates and circuits, as well as advanced algorithms including Quantum Key Distribution, Deutsch and Deutsch-Jozsa Algorithms, Simon's algorithm, and Grover's algorithm. As educators, we aim to share our teaching insights and resources with fellow instructors in the field. The full lab handouts and program templates are provided for interested instructors. Furthermore, the report elucidates the rationale behind the design of each experiment, enabling a deeper understanding of quantum computing.

Benedict N Murdin