Quantum computing is one of the fastest growing fields at the interface of physics and theoretical computer science. "Recent experiments show that even the existing hardware for quantum computing is hitting the limits of what we can simulate classically, and the field is becoming very interesting for many financial institutions and large industrial companies. Studying related physics and computer science thus provides not only intellectual satisfaction but also commercially applicable knowledge," emphasized Dr. Jakub Mareček from the Artificial Intelligence Center at the FEE CTU, the course's supervisor and one of the lecturers.
Mareček and other lecturers will explain the basics of quantum mechanics for non-physicists and the differences between the computational complexity of classical and quantum computing. Participants will also learn about basic quantum algorithms and how they differ from classical algorithms. "Students will get hands-on experience using quantum computer simulators and actual IBM quantum computers available online. Special emphasis is placed on the acceleration issues that quantum computers can provide," Marecek described.
The course will be held every Friday - lectures from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m., followed by exercises between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Detailed information about the course programme can be found here. According to Mareček, students do not need previous experience in theoretical computer science or quantum physics, but they should have taken mathematics within the scope of the compulsory courses of Bachelor's programmes - basics of linear algebra, probability theory and mathematical analysis.
Dr. Jakub Mareček leads the Optimization research group at the AIC FEE CTU. In addition to academic projects, the team is working on quantum computing for leading financial institutions such as Fidelity Investments and HSBC. Mareček is also co-author of the most widely used open-source quantum computing package qiskit.org and has previously been involved in leading the community around quantum computing at IBM Research.
The second lecturer in the course and Mareček's colleague in the Optimization group, Dr. Johannes Aspam, studied quantum field theory at Trinity College Dublin. The third lecturer, Dr. Georgios Karpas, has been conducting research in quantum computing at HSBC since last August, and was also previously part of Mareček's team at the FEE CTU. Korpas also studied quantum field theory at Trinity College Dublin.
Course: Quantum Computing
Place: Department of Computer Science FEE CTU, Karlovo náměstí 13, Prague 2
Time: Fri 9:15 - 10:45, 11:00 - 12:30
