Course information
- Lectures: Monday 2:10-4pm, WWH 312 (251 Mercer St)
- Instructor: Nick Spooner, office hours Thursdays 2-3pm, WWH 430. Email: nick.spooner@nyu.edu
- There will be no final exam for this course; assessment will be conducted via weekly homeworks and a course project.
Overview
This course aims to provide a graduate-level introduction to quantum computing and quantum information, from a computer science perspective. Topics covered include:
- Qubits, measurement and unitary transformations
- Entanglement and non-locality
- Quantum key distribution
- Quantum circuits
- Basic quantum algorithms, e.g. Simon's algorithm, Grover search, Shor's factoring algorithm
- Quantum query complexity
- Quantum computational complexity
- Quantum error-correction and fault tolerance
Resources
Lecture schedule
| # |
Date |
Title |
| 1 |
Sept 11 |
Introduction, measuring a single qubit |
| 2 |
Sept 18 |
Quantum gates, quantum circuits, Elitzur-Vaidman bomb |
| 3 |
Sept 25 |
Multi-qubit systems, and entanglement |
| 4 |
Oct 2 |
Non-local games and teleportation |
| 5 |
Oct 10 |
Projective measurement |
| 6 |
Oct 16 |
Mixed states and density operators |
| 7 |
Oct 23 |
Quantum money and QKD, quantum query complexity |
| 8 |
Oct 30 |
Deutsch-Josza, Simon's algorithm |
| 9 |
Nov 6 |
QFT and Shor's algorithm |
| 10 |
Nov 13 |
QFT circuit, Grover's algorithm |
| 11 |
Nov 20 |
Quantum simulation of classical circuits, phase estimation |
| 12 |
Nov 27 |
Quantum complexity theory |
| 13 |
Dec 4 |
Quantum error correction |
| 14 |
Dec 11 |
Fault-tolerant quantum computation |
Course policies
- Homework: There will be weekly homework assignments. We strongly prefer that you write your assignments in LaTeX. Assignments will be submitted on Gradescope.
- Report: An important assessment component of this class is the course report, due at the end of the semester. This will be a short (approximately five pages) report on some topic beyond what was covered in class. This could be original research, a literature review, or a report on some advanced topic in the textbook. This must be an individual project. A project proposal will be due mid-October; more details to follow.
- Scribe notes: You will be asked to serve as a scribe for one class. The sign-up sheet is here. You must use LaTeX for scribe notes.
- Grade: The overall grade will be 40% homework, 50% report, 10% scribe notes.
- Late submissions: Late submissions of homework solutions will be graded with a 20% penalty per day of late submission. Solutions will not be graded if they are submitted later than two days after the specified deadline.
- Academic integrity: Please review the departmental academic integrity policy and the CAS academic integrity policy.
- Collaboration and plagiarism: You are free to discuss assignments with your peers, use internet and textbook resources, and seek help on Piazza. However, all submitted work must be your own, and you must acknowledge any resources that you used. In the final report, you must include appropriate citations. Any instance of plagiarism may be subject to investigation according to University regulations.
- AI assistants: Course policies do not forbid the use of AI assistants. However, you should be careful: AI tools often produce incorrect or unsubstantiated claims. The correctness of submitted work remains your responsibility, as does appropriate citation. In particular, is not adequate to cite an AI tool as a source.
- Participation: Students are expected to attend every meeting of the class and participate in discussions, both in-class and on Piazza.
- Religious observance: As a nonsectarian, inclusive institution, NYU policy permits members of any religious group to absent themselves from classes without penalty when required for compliance with their religious obligations. The policy and principles to be followed by students and faculty may be found in the University Calendar Policy on Religious Holidays.
- Disability disclosure: Academic accommodations are available to any student with a chronic, psychological, visual, mobility, learning disability, or who is deaf or hard of hearing. Students should register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities.