We often hear about a future filled with quantum computers which will speed up computations by thousands of years, break today’s encryption, and help discover new medicines. How does quantum computing really work, though? How can it be faster than today’s computers? Why do we not have such machines yet, at least not ones that are useful? And what do drawings of boxes and „spiders“ have to do with all this?

These are the questions we will tackle in this course. You will learn the fundamentals of quantum mechanics and build towards a quantum algorithm that can solve a task faster than any standard algorithm. We will learn to use an exotic type of math, one where drawn diagrams of boxes, strings, and spiders take the centre stage. Using this diagrammatic approach, we will try to understand the quantum world (and teleport Schrödinger’s cat).

Specifically, we will cover:
– What is quantum teleportation?
– What makes something quantum, as apposed to just random? Why do we care?
– How does maths in diagrams work?
– How do standard computing algorithms solve problems?
– How to draw quantum circuits and do quantum logic?
– How to solve problems with a quantum algorithm?

If you enjoy math, physics, or computing, and you would like to learn a bit more about quantum technologies, this course is for you. The goal of this ambitious course is to show why this topic is interesting and what further study in this direction might look like. High school mathematics will be assumed (probability, vectors, functions, and trigonometry). The sessions will consist of a lecture part and a problem solving part, where we will solve and discuss related problems to get the hang of the lesson content.