Back to Courses

Quantum Computing

Solve hard problems by computing with quantum mechanics.

Learn to build quantum algorithms from the ground up with a quantum computer simulated in your browser in this course, created in collaboration with quantum researchers and practitioners from Microsoft, X, and Caltech's IQIM.

Quantum computing is an endeavor that's been promised to upend everything from codebreaking, to drug development, to machine learning. With so much hype, it's easy to get lost marveling at the possibilities, without grasping what quantum computing actually is.

Made in collaboration with

Interactive
quizzes

33

Concepts and
exercises

395+
  1. 1

    Introduction

    Track down the origin of the quantum speed-up, then get acquainted with the qubit and its glorious choreography.

    1. The Nature of Computation

      Get a sense for what quantum computing is, and what it isn't. Hint: it's not magic.

    2. Computing with Circuits

      A primer on gated-based computation with classical bits.

    3. Quantum Bits

      An introduction to the qubit, the basic unit of quantum information.

    4. A Black Box Puzzle

      Meet quantum parallelism and use it to find a fast solution to a classic puzzle.

  2. 2

    Information

    Manipulate quantum states with gates, and build a universal quantum computer.

    1. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Information and Bits

      The power of quantum computing isn't in information storage, it's in information processing.

    2. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Qubit Playground

      A primer on qubits, quantum states, and transforming qubits with gates.

    3. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Gates Galore

      A tour of the 1-qubit gates we'll be using in the course.

    4. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Superpositions

      A deep dive on superposition and basis states.

  3. 3

    Circuits

    Assemble quantum circuits for cryptography, super-dense information storage and quantum teleportation.

    1. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Entanglement Circuit

      Learn how to build entanglement with a quantum circuit.

    2. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Quantum Cryptography

      Our first practical application, learn how entanglement is used (today) for absolutely secure communication.

    3. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Quantum Communication

      Can we use entanglement to send messages faster than light?

    4. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Superdense Coding

      Is it possible to send two classical bits in one qubit?

  4. 4

    Foundational Algorithms

    Use quantum circuits to tackle classical problems and find out when a speed-up is possible.

    1. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Problem Complexity

      Quantum computing promises to transform our hardest problems into tractable ones. But what’s a hard problem?

    2. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Quantum Parallelism

      People say that quantum computing can try every answer simultaneously. It can't. Here's what they mean.

    3. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      The Problem with Oracles

      Oracle machines distill computer science problems to their essence, and let us clearly see quantum speedups.

    4. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Bigger Problems

      Extract an answer from an oracle, and catch a first glimpse of exponential quantum speedups.

  5. 5

    Near-Term Algorithms

    Use quantum operations to solve optimization problems and simulate physical systems.

    1. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Inspired by Nature

      In the near term, quantum computers won't run Shor's, they'll be small and run algorithms inspired by nature.

    2. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Spin Systems

      Explore the Rosetta stone for encoding computational optimization problems in the language of qubits.

    3. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Modeling Quantum Spins with Q#

      Program spin systems in Microsoft's Q#, a language built to control real, near-term quantum computers.

    4. Included with
      Brilliant Premium

      Simulating Magnets with Q#

      Build spin models for magnetic matter in Q# and use quantum optimization to unlock their behavior.

Prerequisites
Next steps