Published
Mar 21 2019 06:27 PM
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First published on MSDN on Feb 26, 2018
Lost? Confused? Don't know where to start with all this quantum computing stuff? Don't panic!
This post is intended to function as a start page/guide to help you navigate your way through the various quantum computing and Q# posts hosted here on the Faculty blog ( https://aka.ms/faculty ).
Q# is Microsoft’s new quantum-focused language, designed to bring the full developer experience to the quantum sphere. Q# comes with all the features you’d expect from a fully-fledged language (functions, loops, variables…), along with a cross-platform developer environment in Visual Studio/VS Code and even a quantum simulator! See this announcement for details on the latest release, bringing a wide range of new language and editor features 😊
Q# and the QDK are fully platform agnostic – that is to say, they are designed to work with any physical implementation of a quantum computer, not restricted to Microsoft’s topological qubit approach. Quantum programs are orchestrated and run using a classical computer (the driver), leveraging the quantum system (be it simulated or physical) when required to speed things up/do funky quantum stuff – much in the same way that we currently use GPUs to speed up the solution of machine learning problems.
Watch this space for a detailed look at what topological qubits are exactly and why we should care – blog post coming soon 😊 Further information on Q#, topological qubits and the QDK can be found here .
This blog is written by Anita Ramanan and Frances Tibble, both software engineers at Microsoft. The blog is split into two complementary tracks – Frances' posts are focused on getting you up and running quickly with Q# and the QDK, whereas Anita's posts aim to provide deeper background on concepts in quantum computing, plus how these translate to Q#.
(roughly in suggested reading order)
Like anything quantum, there’s a degree of uncertainty here – future posts may change!
Microsoft Quantum Resources
Lectures
Books/Papers
Other Online Resources
More from Frances & Anita
Lost? Confused? Don't know where to start with all this quantum computing stuff? Don't panic!
This post is intended to function as a start page/guide to help you navigate your way through the various quantum computing and Q# posts hosted here on the Faculty blog ( https://aka.ms/faculty ).
Q# is Microsoft’s new quantum-focused language, designed to bring the full developer experience to the quantum sphere. Q# comes with all the features you’d expect from a fully-fledged language (functions, loops, variables…), along with a cross-platform developer environment in Visual Studio/VS Code and even a quantum simulator! See this announcement for details on the latest release, bringing a wide range of new language and editor features 😊
Q# and the QDK are fully platform agnostic – that is to say, they are designed to work with any physical implementation of a quantum computer, not restricted to Microsoft’s topological qubit approach. Quantum programs are orchestrated and run using a classical computer (the driver), leveraging the quantum system (be it simulated or physical) when required to speed things up/do funky quantum stuff – much in the same way that we currently use GPUs to speed up the solution of machine learning problems.
Watch this space for a detailed look at what topological qubits are exactly and why we should care – blog post coming soon 😊 Further information on Q#, topological qubits and the QDK can be found here .
This blog is written by Anita Ramanan and Frances Tibble, both software engineers at Microsoft. The blog is split into two complementary tracks – Frances' posts are focused on getting you up and running quickly with Q# and the QDK, whereas Anita's posts aim to provide deeper background on concepts in quantum computing, plus how these translate to Q#.
The Story So Far
(roughly in suggested reading order)
- A Beginner’s Guide to Quantum Computing and Q# (Frances)
- Introduction to Quantum Computing (Anita)
- Quantum Gates and Circuits: The Crash Course (Anita)
- Quantum Computing Primer: Pure and Mixed States (Anita)
- Quantum Teleportation in Q# (Frances)
- Quantum Computing: Quick Reference Guide (Anita)
-
Q# Advent Calendar 2018 series
:
- Quantum Perceptrons (Frances)
- Grover's Algorithm (plus festive version here ) (Anita)
The Road Ahead
Like anything quantum, there’s a degree of uncertainty here – future posts may change!
- Getting to Grips with the Quantum Fourier Transform (Anita)
-
An Aside: Some Important Science Bits (Anita)
- Gates & the associated maths
- Matrix transformations
- Quantum Computing in the Real World (several posts) (Anita)
- Measurement (Frances)
- Simple Algorithms (Frances)
-
Quantum Algorithms – one post per algorithm (Frances and Anita)
- Integer Factorisation (Frances)
- To be continued…
- Characterisation and Testing Samples (Frances)
- Hamiltonian Simulation Samples (Frances)
Awesome Sources of Information
Microsoft Quantum Resources
- Microsoft Quantum
- Microsoft Quantum GitHub
- Microsoft Quantum samples on GitHub
- Microsoft Quantum Katas - highly recommended if you want to get hands-on with the QDK!
- Microsoft Quantum Development Kit
- Microsoft Quantum Blog
- Stay up to date with the Microsoft Quantum newsletter
- Microsoft Quantum on Twitter
- Microsoft Quantum on Facebook
-
Achieving Practical Quantum Computing
- Great intro to quantum computing and its potential applications by Microsoft Quantum Architect Dave Wecker.
- Microsoft post-quantum cryptography research
-
Quantum Computing for Computer Scientists
by Andrew Helwer on YouTube
- This talk discards hand-wavy pop-science metaphors and answers a simple question: from a computer science perspective, how can a quantum computer outperform a classical computer?
Lectures
- Leonard Susskind’s excellent series of introductory lectures on quantum mechanics (link to the...
-
Scott Aaronson's lecture series (and book):
Quantum Computing Since Democritus
...
- A bit on the older side but approaches the basic principles from a refreshingly different perspective. Highly recommended.
Books/Papers
- Neilsen & Chuang’s book: Quantum Computation and Quantum Information
- Feynman's famous 1982 paper exploring the concept of quantum computing
-
Quantized Majorana Conductance
- March 2018
- Terry Rudolph's book (and YouTube lectures): Q is for Quantum
Other Online Resources
-
Reddit AMA by Quantum Jim
- Some interesting Q&A!
- Join the London Quantum Computing Meetup!
- Try Q# online without installing the QDK
- Q# Coding Contest Summer 2018
More from Frances & Anita
-
Getting started with Q#
- Self-guided tutorial content written by Frances and Anita, aimed at beginners
- Includes introduction to superposition, entanglement, teleportation, testing & simulation, as well as Q# language tips and information.
-
TechDaysOnline recording
- Lots of beginner-level content
- Keynote from Dr. Julie Love, Director in the Microsoft Quantum team
- This is the raw recording following the live event - watch this space for the fully edited version!
- Recorded Quantum Computing & Q# 101 session from London Quantum Computing Meetup
About the Authors
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|
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Anita
(
@whywontitbuild
) graduated from University College London in 2014 with an MSci in Natural Sciences: Atomic and Particle Physics and Physical Chemistry (TL;DR: Quantum Mechanics).
Since then, she has been working at Microsoft and is now a Software Engineer focusing on the Internet of Things (particularly as it relates to healthcare), Xamarin, Power BI and now Quantum Computing. |
Frances
(
@frances_tibble
) graduated with a degree in Computing from Imperial College London having completed a final year project with Microsoft Research.
Frances now works as a Software Engineer for Microsoft focusing on Machine Learning and High Scale Data… and as of these blog posts, Quantum Computing. |