Developing Practical QISE Education at the Undergraduate Level

NSF Workshop on Quantum Engineering Education

Sophia Economou

Questions to address

• Does quantum engineering require its own department, or is it better implemented as a specialized track in existing engineering disciplines?

• How can we build affordable hands-on quantum education at the undergraduate level?

• What courses should be included in a quantum engineering major or minor?

• How do we increase diversity in our quantum engineering students?

Does quantum engineering require its own department, or is it better implemented as a specialized track in existing engineering disciplines?

• Extremely diverse topic

• Very different types of expertise fit within QISE

A few examples• Superconducting QC; expertise:

• RF engineering, physics, QEC, q. algorithms expert, … • Quantum network science

• Theory of communication, classical networks, entanglement, cryptography, …, but also, implementations: emitters, devices, linear/nonlinear optics, transduction, …

• Sensing using color centers; expertise: • Engineering/nanophotonics, physics, materials science, …

How can we build affordable hands-on quantum education at the undergraduate level?

• Leverage existing resources/programs

• Select future investments judiciously

• Shared facilities?

Expertise to acquire

• Field at very early stage à firm grasp of fundamentals is crucial

• E.g., specialized programming software of particular processors could become obsolete quickly

• Leverage tools provided by industry without narrowing focus too much; “low-level” knowledge still critical

• Domain expertise compliments quantum skills

Challenges

• Cost• Experimental setups expensive• For some experiments, demos can be purchased• For more complicated experiments (e.g., involving dilution

refrigerators) very difficult to include in a scaled up program• Shared facilities?

• Teaching staff

• Creating a meaningful curriculum given how broad the field is

Additional challenges at graduate level

• Masters level: short time, need to choose focus; each university should focus on leveraging faculty expertise

More in Bob Joynt’s talk

• PhD level: • Physics programs very rigid• Engineering departments probably lack critical mass of QISE faculty

• Leveraging existing interdepartmental resources/curriculum most likely the way to go

QISE is one of the most interdisciplinary fields

Great opportunity and big challenge!

The potential pitfalls of interdisciplinary programs

• Too restrictive

• Students have diverse backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses

• Prerequisite hell

Specialization is unavoidable and actually helpful!

• Not everyone can (or should) be taught everything

• Topics considered absolutely necessary by a typical physicist or engineer may not be in every student’s curriculum. E.g.:• QISE students may never solve the Schrödinger equation for continuous

problems and may never work on time-dependent problems• Some students may not touch any experiments• Some students will not take EM

• There are fundamentals to which everyone should have exposure

• Multidisciplinary interest and expertise (7 depts involved)• Opportunity for an interdisciplinary program• Provide flexibility • avoid issues with prerequisites, etc• Students can tailor degree to their interests & background

• Absolutely necessary knowledge• Linear algebra• Programming & collaborative software• Quantum computing and quantum communications fundamentals

Virginia Tech approach-I

• Mandatory courses• Linear algebra• Programming (classical and quantum computers)• Quantum computing and information concepts (freshman level)• Quantum information technologies—hardware agnostic (senior level)

• Electives set 1 (quasi-mandatory)• Out of short list of quantum-focused courses select at least one (hardware/software)

• Electives set 2• Long list of domain-specific courses (freshman-junior level), select at least one

• Electives set 3• Long list of domain-specific courses (mostly senior level), select at least one

• Optional project: choose among (i) academic research, (ii) industry/national lab internship, (iii) outreach*

*VT has multiple “5+ Club” awards for graduating five or more physics teachers in a given year

Virginia Tech approach-II

• Build (unofficial) specializations (enforced via structure)

• Examples• Experimental/engineering (QM, solid state, lab courses)• Cryptography (classical and quantum crypto courses; no need for QM)• Chemistry (classical and quantum algorithms for chemistry, QM, many-body)• Machine learning/data analytics/QIS

• Can build a range of specializations: flexible but substantial

• Students will maintain contact with each other and build community through course involving collaborative projects

Virginia Tech approach-III

Freshman QISE course structure

• Applications/concepts-first approach: excite students, peak their interest, decouple concepts from mathematical framework

• Friendly pictorial approach (no advanced math required)

• But rigorous!

• Build toward linear algebra

• Use IMB Quatnum drag-and-drop interface (no coding experience required)

Qubits and gatesBlack: 1; White: 0

Single-(qu)bit gate: NOT (X) + +

+ + + +

Two-(qu)bit gate: NOT (X)

,

Superposition state (|+>):

Hadamard gate:

H H

, , -

, = , , ,- = =

, =, , ,

Rules

, = ,

Formalism from Terry Rudolph’s book “Q is for quantum”

Money or tiger? A quantum game

there are 3 possibilities

+

Tiger?open

? ?

+

Tiger?

H H

HH

Quantum computing allows us to determine if either door has a tiger in one try

• Analog of Deutsch’s algorithm• Allows students to see a

concrete example of something that can be done with quantum but not classical bits

Game invented by Ed Barnes, Virginia Tech

Economou, Rudolph, Barnes, arXiv:2005.07874

Concepts that will be taught with this approach (freshman level)

• Simple quantum algorithms

• Entangled vs separable states

• Quantum teleportation

• Non-cloning theorem

• Measurements in different bases

• QKD

• Entanglement swapping

• Quantum repeaters

• Quantum games, pseudo-telepathy, (non) contextuality, …

From pictorial formalism to linear algebra

,

Motivate need for linear algebra instead of starting with it!E.g. superposition state |+>:

1,1 [1 1]1211

• Clouds à lists à vectors (+normalization)• Similarly for multi-qubit states• Shows tensor product structure naturally• Translate boxes to matrices: also natural, as linearity is already built into the rules

Summary of VT degree structure

• Early exposure to quantum concepts (friendly but rigorous)

• Very small set of courses that are mandatory across all students

• Restricted set of electives with structure (e.g., out of small sets of courses take at least 1, etc)

• Broader set of electives with more freedom to construct a degree that includes domain knowledge (and in case of QISE minor aligns with major)

How do we increase diversity in our quantum engineering students?

• Resources available• Access to hardware and software• Online learning• Due to covid, lots of conferences, workshops virtual & talks posted online

• Potential issue with further imbalance based on gender and race

Toward a diverse QISE community

• Early outreach (K12, summer camps for HS students, transition programs )

• Target diverse/underrepresented groups

• QISE researchers should be careful with hype, aggressiveness, and competitive or esoteric language

Outreach in collaboration with engineering, VT

• VT Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED)

• C-Tech2 program: 2 week STEM camp for 60 high school girls from all over US

• Barnes, Economou introduced a QISE module: 2-day event

• 1.5 hr lecture (all 60 students) followed by two 2 hr sessions (30 students each) of hands-on activities

• Lecture: background of QM and overview of quantum info technologies

pics from 20192020 was via Zoom (~65 students)2021 plans: virtual, expanded version (several days, additional instructors + student TAs)

Our outreach/early QISE education program in a nutshell

• QM overview (lecture)

• QIST overview and formalism (hands on activity)

• IBM Q experience (hands on activity)

• A quantum game (hands on activity)

Economou, Rudolph, Barnes, arXiv:2005.07874 Support: