Quantum Computing Workshop — Petnica Science Center (Physics Seminar)

I delivered a two-day, 8-hour hands-on workshop (4 hours per day) on quantum computing for the Physics Seminar at Petnica Science Center, held on September 5th and 6th, 2025. The course was based on the University of Cambridge’s Quantum Computing course (materials here), originally taught by Prof. Anuj Dawar.

Structure:

• Covered the first 7 lectures from the Cambridge syllabus:
  1. Bits and qubits; quantum states and measurements
  2. Linear algebra review; Dirac notation; tensor product
  3. Quantum mechanics postulates; evolution and measurement; entanglement
  4. Quantum computation model; gates and circuits; Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm
  5. Quantum information applications: key distribution, superdense coding, teleportation
  6. Grover’s search algorithm
  7. Shor’s algorithm; Quantum Fourier transform
• Skipped the 8th lecture (quantum complexity)
• Instead, presented an introduction to trapped ion quantum computing and gave a virtual lab tour via Zoom

Resources and recommended reading:

• Cambridge course materials
• Kaye, Laflamme, Mosca: An Introduction to Quantum Computing (Oxford, 2007)
• Nielsen & Chuang: Quantum Computation and Quantum Information (Cambridge, 2010)
• Mermin: Quantum Computer Science (Cambridge, 2007)
• Hirvensalo: Quantum Computing (Springer, 2001)
• Braunstein, Quantum computation tutorial (PDF)
• Aharonov, Quantum computation (arXiv)
• Steane, Quantum computing (arXiv)
• Other lecture notes: Vazirani (Berkeley), Preskill (Caltech), Childs (Maryland), Watrous (Waterloo)

Aims and objectives:

• Introduce the basics of the quantum model of computation
• Explore foundational quantum algorithms and protocols
• Relate quantum and classical models of computation
• Provide hands-on experience and a real-world perspective via the trapped ion lab tour