Tony Holdroyd

Action at a Distance Corporation believes that quantum computers will soon outperform their classical counterparts. That’s why the consortium of venture capitalists feels that the time to invest in quantum startups is now. It’s counting on its resident researcher—that’s you!—to level up your quantum computing knowledge and evaluate proposals from hopeful quantum startups.

In this series of liveProjects, you’ll develop core quantum computing skills using the open-source Qiskit development environment, identify viable quantum applications, discover what the “quantum advantage” is, and determine the major players in the quantum race. Throughout the series, you’ll prepare brief notes for the consortium, sharing what you’ve learned. When you’re finished, you’ll have developed core quantum programming skills and will understand the value of quantum computing.

As the researcher for venture capital firm Action at a Distance Corporation your job is to evaluate proposals from quantum startups hoping to secure an investment. But first, you need to expand your knowledge of quantum computing.

You’ll build your quantum muscles by investigating and coding key quantum algorithms including the quantum teleportation algorithm, the quantum phase estimation algorithm, the quantum Fourier transform algorithm, and Grover’s algorithm. With your new knowledge, you’ll compose a brief report about whether or not now is the right time to invest in quantum startups.

Action at a Distance Corporation, a consortium of venture capitalists, believes that the time to invest in quantum computing startups is now. As the consortium’s researcher, your task is to gain knowledge of quantum computing capabilities.

You’ll explore matrix representations—mathematical underpinnings of quantum computing—and examine quantum circuits that use different arrangements of gates to achieve identical functionality. You’ll upgrade your quantum toolbox with phase kickback, an essential component of many quantum algorithms, and you’ll work with Bloch spheres, a way of visually representing qubits. You’ll then use two different methods to run a circuit on IBM quantum hardware, a task that will be commonplace in the not-so-distant future.

Get tangled up in quantum computing! Action at a Distance Corporation, a consortium of venture capitalists, believes the time to invest in quantum computing startups is now. As the consortium’s resident researcher, your task is to understand the power of quantum computing.

You’ll learn to recognize normalized quantum states of two qubits, a key skill in implementing quantum algorithms. You’ll get familiar with the Controlled Not (CNOT) gate, vital to the construction of important, entangled states, and you’ll observe what Einstein called “spooky action at a distance” as you program the (famous!) entangled Bell states. Using the IBM Quantum Composer, you’ll visualize and animate quantum circuits, gaining insight into handling gates and their outcomes.

Action at a Distance Corporation, a consortium of venture capitalists, believes that now is the time to invest in quantum computing startups. As its resident researcher, your job is to get familiar with quantum techniques and applications. You’ll code quantum circuits involving four different quantum gates, the fundamental processing units of quantum. You’ll visualize the effects of the gates, run and measure the circuits, and use IBM Quantum Composer to demonstrate the use of the gates. With a deeper understanding of quantum, you’ll investigate major quantum use cases to help the consortium determine whether or not the startups’ proposals have commercial applications.

Enter the world of quantum computing and discover how quantum computers solve problems in a fraction of the time. You’re a researcher for Action at a Distance Corporation, a consortium of venture capitalists who believe the time to learn about and invest in quantum computing startups is now. Your task is to learn fundamental quantum computing skills so you can evaluate proposals from quantum startups and brief the consortium’s partners. Get familiar with the Qiskit environment as you create your own Qiskit programming Python imports template, then discover features of the Qiskit ecosystem as you add code to your template. You’ll set up a quantum circuit, getting first-hand experience with amplitudes and probabilities associated with quantum states. With these fundamentals under your belt, you’ll prepare brief notes for your report to the consortium, researching which companies will be the major players in the quantum race, what types of quantum hardware they’re pursuing, and what exactly is the “quantum advantage.”