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A report on teaching a series of online lectures on quantum computing from CERN

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Abstract

Quantum computing (QC) is one of the most promising new technologies for High Performance Computing. Its potential use in High Energy Physics has lead CERN, one of the top world users of large-scale distributed computing, to start programmes such as the Quantum Technology Initiative (QTI) to further assess and explore the applications of QC. As a part of QTI, CERN offered, in November–December 2020, a free, online series of lectures on quantum computing. In this paper, we report on the experience of designing and delivering these lectures, evaluating them in the broader context of computing education and training. Traditional textbooks and courses on QC usually focus on physical concepts and assume some knowledge of advanced mathematical and physical topics from the student. Our lectures were designed with the objective of reducing the prerequisites to the bare minimum as well as focusing on hands-on, practical aspects of programming quantum computers and not on the mathematical analysis of the algorithms. This also allowed us to include contents that are not usually covered in introductory courses, such as quantum machine learning and quantum annealing. The evaluation of the reception of the lectures shows that participants significantly increased their knowledge, validating the proposed approach not focused on mathematics and physics but on algorithmic and implementation aspects.

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Notes

  1. https://home.cern/science/computing/storage.

  2. Elí-as F. Combarro and José Ranilla.

  3. Elías F. Combarro.

  4. https://cds.cern.ch/.

  5. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwXkOx0EuKBR5m_OOiaZRUA.

  6. https://indico.cern.ch/event/970903/.

  7. Elías F. Combarro and José Ranilla.

  8. https://home.cern/news/announcement/computing/online-introductory-lectures-quantum-computing-6-november.

  9. https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/cern-hosting-online-introductory-lectures-on-quantum-computing-beginning-nov-6/.

  10. https://www.zdnet.com/article/whats-quantum-computing-cerns-new-free-online-course-offers-you-the-answer/.

  11. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/get-your-quantum-computing-questions-answered-during-7-free-online-classes/.

  12. https://twitter.com/CERN/status/1382295115755094016

  13. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwXkOx0EuKBR5m_OOiaZRUA.

  14. https://cds.cern.ch/.

  15. https://indico.cern.ch/.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness from Spain/FEDER under grant TIN2017-87600-P, by the Regional Ministry of the Principality of Asturias under grant FC-GRUPIN-IDI/2018/000226, and by Campus de Excelencia Internacional of the University of Oviedo in collaboration with Banco de Santander, as part of the "ayudas económicas de movilidad de excelencia para docentes e investigadores de la Universidad de Oviedo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Elías F. Combarro & José Ranilla

  2. CERN openlab, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

    Elías F. Combarro, Sofia Vallecorsa & Alberto Di Meglio

  3. Department of Statistics and O.R. and Math Education, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz & Álvaro Aguilar-González

Authors
  1. Elías F. Combarro
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  2. Sofia Vallecorsa
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  3. Luis J. Rodríguez-Muñiz
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  4. Álvaro Aguilar-González
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  5. José Ranilla
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  6. Alberto Di Meglio
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Correspondence to José Ranilla.

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Combarro, E.F., Vallecorsa, S., Rodríguez-Muñiz, L.J. et al. A report on teaching a series of online lectures on quantum computing from CERN. J Supercomput 77, 14405–14435 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-021-03847-9

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