Introduction

Welcome to your first step into the funky world of Quantum computing! Whether you have some or no experience, this module is here to help you get a quick start into understanding (and engineering) all the really, really small things.

If you are a student at RPI, you are at the right place for discovering quantum innovation. Check out why:

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Learn more about RPI’s IBM System One:

• https://foci.rpi.edu/computing-resources/rpi-quantum-computing
• https://research.ibm.com/blog/rpi-ibm-quantum-system-one-installed
• https://news.rpi.edu/2024/04/05/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute-and-ibm-unveil-worlds-first-ibm-quantum-system-one </aside>

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Interested in getting access to the System One as a student?

https://itssc.rpi.edu/hc/en-us/articles/17609648152845-Quantum-computing

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Background Knowledge

To even start doing anything quantum, it’s important to understand a bit of how it works. So, we’re gonna have to talk some physics. But don’t worry, I’ll spare you (most of) the math.

So to start, light is a wave, but also a particle. Fun. But it’s also not the only thing that has this weird wave-particle duality. so do electrons! and protons, neutrons and pretty much every other tiny thing we can’t see with our eyes. Spin (up and down). magnetic field plays an effect. actually, lots of things play an effect. entanglement makes things even weirder.

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Here are some good additional resources that explain the concepts of quantum mechanics pretty well:

• The original lecture notes by Richard Feynman: https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/III_01.html
• https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/quantum-computing
• The textbook used in Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: </aside>

Some of the various ways to make a quantum computer

• RPI quantum computer (how to get access?) - Qiskit

So why use a quantum computer?

Purposes/use cases

how to learn more & get involved