All you need to learn Quantum Computing is Linear Algebra!
My perspectives on the Qiskit Global Summer School 2020
Hello there!
I am an AI Research Scientist at IBM Research India. I fell in love with AI during my masters in 2011, continued through my PhD, and will chase the dream of AI to its fullest. Quantum Computing has always fascinated me, and if you have stumbled on this blog, I think, you too are a Quantum enthusiast.
Before joining the Qiskit Global Summer School (QGSS) 2020, I have been learning Quantum on my own since long. The disadvantage of learning something on your own is that you keep getting lost in the breadth of its research spectrum, and hype-and-debate around certain topics (true for both Quantum and AI!). QGSS organized by IBM from July 20-31, 2020, was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn and brainstorm with the Qiskit Community.
Not being a physicist, I had initial hurdle in the thought paradigm shift that a qubit can be in superposition and entangled state. But trust me all it needs to understand Quantum, is basics of linear algebra. As Marina Radulaski aptly said “computer science folks are already very well versed with linear algebra and coding is their strong suite, it just takes a while to adjust to this new way of thinking, which a physicist develops early on”. Quantum is highly interdisciplinary and I was very happy to see that several Quantum scientists at the panel of QGSS resonated with the thought that at this stage of Quantum research it is very important to have people from multiple different fields and background.
About the Summer School
This summer school provided a much-needed detailed training on Quantum concepts, algorithms and hands-on Qiskit training via lab sessions. The curriculum of the summer school is very exhaustive, and I felt it’s almost a semester course :)
IBM provides this intensive training to its Quantum interns and thanks to the Quantum team for opening such an educational opportunity for everyone. As with other events, the Qiskit Global Summer School (QGSS) is virtual this year due to COVID-19. This is by far the largest Quantum Summer School with over 4000 people across 100 countries actively participating 24/7. Being an Indian, felt great to see 897 participants from India making us in the top-2 countries in terms of Quantum interest!
There were 10 days of classes with 3 hours of very detailed lectures and one hour of lab session every day. It’s a privilege to learn from quantum experts who have been teaching while writing all the concepts and the mathematics behind them tirelessly without assuming the audience to know anything more than basics of linear algebra. The first week covered Quantum fundamentals delivered by Elisa Baumer, Abraham Asfaw, and James Wootton. The second week of the school focused on two main areas: Supercomputing Qubits and Quantum Chemistry. Zlatko Minev covered Supercomputing qubits and devices in detail. Quantum Chemistry was broken down to fine granularity by Abhinav Kandala & Antonio Mezzacapo. For all the lab sessions, the Qiskit textbook is a great help in coding as well as the cool Qiskitters actively helping and discussing.
In 4 days of the school, I was able to learn and explain the Shor’s algorithm, code quantum circuits, and was thrilled to be able to run it on an actual Quantum computer!!
The best part of the summer school was the zeal of the participants in using the messaging platform, Discord for all online and offline interactions. The organizers used it very effectively to post announcements, lecture videos, notes, papers and other materials. They also had channels to discuss lab sessions and homework as well as career related topics, and mentors were very active and responsive. Huge number of study groups were formed where people could join their country community to work together in same time-zones towards the assignments or join any group as they felt to network and help each other. Participants, mentors and lecturers effectively used discord to answer questions so that the lecturer could focus only a few unanswered upvoted questions during the lecture Q&A, while all other questions were sorted out by mentors or fellow participants during or after the lectures. The liveliness at the summer school didnt make it feel virtual.. thanks to everyone for keeping it so engaging and interactive!
The last day ended with a bang where the panelists threw light on building a career in Quantum Computing. The panel included several quantum experts such as Jay Gambetta, Marina Radulaski, Steve Girvin, Monika Schleier-Smith, K. Birgitta Whaley, and John Preskill and was a major attraction to students globally.
For me the main take-away from the panel are:
(1) Quantum being still a nascent field has plethora of research opportunities from hardware building to software and applications layers. So it’s really on us to build the future of Quantum Computing.
(2) Quantum research is highly interdisciplinary so broaden your knowledge and continue learning, wider perspective will help research. Do courses from different departments, do many internships, attend seminars and hear leaders of different fields. Figure out what you love doing, be prepared to learn more and enjoy at each step. This was the common perspectives of all panelists.
(3) Network, talk, collaborate! Take advantage of the still small community, reach out to experts, find ways to learn and contribute to the ecosystem.
A very cool blog covering the suggestions for the panel https://medium.com/qiskit/we-asked-experts-their-advice-for-getting-a-job-in-quantum-computing-2f55e9785a6b
Thanks to Qiskit Global Summer School, I feel much confident now to start my voyage in Quantum Machine Learning. Now, I understand the concepts and can now code Quantum circuits in Qiskit easily. To all those enthusiasts like me who wish to start now, but are worried of their non-Quantum background here is a tip: Quantum itself is entangled in different science and engineering disciplines, so don’t worry. Some linear algebra concepts and bit of Python is enough for you to get started in learning quantum algorithms and build applications for near-term Quantum computers. Most importantly, the Quantum communities are there to help. Let’s all come together and create a breakthrough!!
Important Resources:
- Qiskit textbook- open source textbook on Qiskit to supplement Quantum Computation university courses.
- The Qiskit Advocates program is a great way of being recognized while learning (and applications for this year are closing on 14th August so hurry up).
- There are several courses from notable professors and I did the Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Computation course offered by Prof Umesh Wazirani .
- Quantum Communities: Qiskit open-source community and other groups such as Quantumapalooza or country-specific Quantum groups such as IndiQ.
