A. Introduction, learning tracks and access
B. Module-by-module overview of the course
C. Grading and assessment
D. Discussion Forum Guidelines
A. Introduction, learning tracks, and access
Welcome to The Fundamentals of Quantum Information!
This online course is the first part of the Quantum 201: Quantum Computing & Quantum Internet Professional Certificate. In this course, you will learn how quantum computers are physically built and controlled. We recommend you take the following courses before this one.
There are two ways in which you can follow this course. You can choose to audit the course, or to verify by paying a course fee. The audit track and verified track provide you with different access to the course, as explained in the following table:
|
Audit |
Verified |
|
Free |
149$ for one course; 268.20$ for both PCP courses |
|
Limited access to course materials: 6 weeks after enrollment |
Unlimited access to course materials until end date |
|
No access to the archived course after end date |
Access to the archived course after end date |
|
Access to practice, ungraded assignments |
Access to practice, ungraded assignments |
|
No access to graded assignments |
Access to graded assignments |
|
No certificate possible |
Certificate issued upon passing grades for the course |
If you are taking this course for professional purposes and want to be able to add it to your CV, the course certificate will be a valuable asset. Certificates will indicate you have successfully completed the course, but will not include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of DelftX, designating the institution from which the course originated.
If you take both courses in the Quantum 101 Professional Certificate Program, you will also be eligible for a Program Certificate.
Do you need financial assistance? EdX offers up to a 90% discount on our verified certificates to learners who cannot afford to pay full price. Check the edX support page for financial assistance.
B. Module-by-module overview of the course
Overview of the course:
Module 1. Working with Single Qubits - Arjen Vaartjes
The Born rule
Measurement operators
The Bloch sphere
Expectation values
No-cloning theorem
Prerequisite knowledge
Fundamentals of linear algebra
Braket notation
Superposition
State decomposition
Measurements
Module 2. About the Spin Qubit - David Elkouss, Gustavo Amaral
Multiqubit systems, gates, & measurements
Entanglement
Superdense coding
Teleportation
Entanglement swapping
Prerequisite knowledge
Module 1 (and its prerequisites)
Entanglement
Measuring entangled pairs
Module 3. Quantum Compiling & Quantum Dots - Florian Unseld, Menno Veldhorst, Fabio Sebastiano
Universal gate sets, encoding functions into unitaries, quantum parallelism
How to build a qubit
Constructing, controlling, and measuring spin qubits
Microwave drivers for qubits
Prerequisite knowledge
Modules 1, 2 (and their prerequisites)
Quantum algorithms basics
Quantum algorithms
Quantum compiler
Spin qubits
Operations on spin qubits
Micro-architectures
Quantum classic interface
Module 4: Current State of Quantum Computing - Carmina G. Almudever
Quantum computing in the NISQ era
Prerequisite knowledge
Modules 1, 2, 3 (and their prerequisites)
Each module will take 6-8 hours to complete.
C. Grading and assessment
Each module has a similar structure and grading policy. The non-graded contributions, such as your contributions to the discussion forum, and practice quizzes, are optional but recommended. Participation in the discussions gives you a much greater and deeper learning experience. It allows you to share your ideas with the other course participants.
Graded contributions, such as quizzes and exams, count towards your completion of the course and certificate. In total you can obtain 100 points for the graded contributions. To pass you need an overall score of at least 60% of the total number of points that can be earned (60/100). 40% of the points you will earn by taking the quizzes and 60% by taking the exams. This course contains 4 quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam. You can view your grades and progress at any time in the Progress tab in the menu bar.
All quizzes in the Quantum Library are optional, and will thus not be graded.
D. Discussion forum guidelines
The discussion forum is an important tool on the learning platform for you to share and discuss your insights, assignments and reflections.
An important part of the learning happens on the discussion forums. The forum is all about sharing your ideas with peers and inviting them to give feedback. We stimulate a positive, constructive atmosphere. Please pay attention to the guidelines provided below to make this course a pleasant experience for everyone!
The course team will be available to check the forums and deal with any technical questions or issues. However, we will not be monitoring the forums as often as in a guided course.
- Be respectful. Please, show respect to your fellow participants. We encourage debate and discussion but only when this is done in a polite and respectful manner. We do not tolerate rude behaviour, and condescending or abusive words. Instances will be reported and removed.
- Be constructive in your feedback. Learning in an online community is about interacting with each other. When commenting or providing feedback on work of others, be constructive and whenever possible provide suggestions for improvement.
- Be sensitive to your peers’ background and culture. This is a global forum with participants from around the world. This means that your fellow participants may come from very diverse cultures and backgrounds. Please be sensitive to this when discussing your own work or results of others.
- Post appropriate content. Content that violates the Terms of Service is not permitted. You may not post inappropriate (eg. pornographic) or copyrighted content, advertise or promote outside products or organizations, or spam the forums with repeat content.
More details are available in our downloadable Forum Guidelines.
Collaboration Guidelines
Here we present some guidelines for successful collaboration during this DelftX course. They will assist you and your peers in truly grasping the course material, whilst still being able to help each other out.
We, as course staff, will actively remove posts and responses in the discussion forum, which we feel are inappropriate (literally giving answers, rather than giving tips). Repeated violation of the guidelines may result in your progress in the course being erased and/or your account being deactivated. (Please remember that the edX Honor code also applies outside of edx.org)
Here we go:
1. It is OK to discuss the general approach to solving a problem.
2. It is OK to work with others to come up with the general steps for a solution
3. It is OK to give/receive hints when you or someone else is stuck.
4. It is not OK to receive the details of a solution, these you should work out yourself.
5. It is not OK to simply copy someone else’s solution / let your solution be copied.
6. It is not OK to plug your numbers in someone else’s formula to get an answer.
7. It is not OK to consult a step-by-step solution to a problem, when the deadline has not passed yet.
8. It is not OK to share/receive the answers to an assignment before its deadline.
9. It is OK to let someone help you one step further in a solution, provided that you have given it a wholehearted attempt and are stuck for some time.
And most importantly!
10. After you have collaborated with others to find a solution, you should be able to solve a similar problem by yourself the next time!