ECE 592-100 - Signal Processing Tour of Quantum Computing

Spring 2023


Instructor: Dror Baron, e-mail: barondror AT ncsu DOT edu

Classrooms: Classes will be on Monday and Wednesday, 11:45-13:00, EB2 1229. Office hours will be held on Wednesdays, 14:00-15:00, via Zoom.

Announcements

Useful Links

About this Course

Prerequisites

As suggested by the course's name, it will be advantageous for students to be familiar with signal processing or quantum computing. However, seeing that the number of students who have both backgrounds is limited, we will review these materials during the first part of the course. Students must be familiar with linear algebra (e.g., Math 305 or 405), and probability and statistics (e.g., ST 371 or ECE 514). Some programming proficiency, for example in Matlab or Python, may be needed. Finally, it will be helpful (but not required) for students to be familiar with linear systems (ECE 301), undergraduate signal processing basics (ECE 421), mathematical transforms such as Fourier, and group theory (Math 407). For your convenience, here are links to my course materials for ECE 421 and ECE 514.

Topics

As a new and thus somewhat experimental course, it is difficult to predict in advance precisely what we will cover. The following list should be interpreted as a roadmap, and we may veer a bit away from our planned route as we "tour" these topics.

Course Materials

Textbook

The instructor will be trying to provide his interpretation to some topics in the quantum literature, while coming from his (classical) signal processing perspective. Here are some references that may be useful.

Programming

It is not clear whether we will have programming assignments as part of our course. In any event, for your convenience, I am including resources for Matlab and Python.

Slides and Modules

Assignments and Grading

Below is a preliminary grading structure. At this time, the grade components add up to 90% (before extra credit); we will ensure that things add up to 100% as the course structure becomes clear.
Component % of Grade Due Date
Homework: 20% Throughout course
Final Project: 30% Due last week end of course
Final Exam: 20% May 1, 12-2:30
Quizzes: likely 2 quizzes, 5% each Dates TBD
Quantum Interests: 10% Throughout course
Scribe some classes (details below): 5% Note that this will be a form of extra credit
Extra credit: Likely up to 3% This is in addition to being a scribe for some classes

Quantum interests could be to attend / summarize / critique seminars in topics related to the course; we suggest talks in the NC State Quantum Workshop (January 2023) and Triangle Quantum Computing Seminar. Another "quantum interest" style contribution would be for a student to record educational modules and put them online; this is merely an example.

Being a scribe for some classes is intended to help develop course materials over time. Depending on the number of students enrolled, I envision students scribing 2-3 classes. This will result in 5% extra credit, which will be above and beyond the 3% extra credit.

Homework

We expect homeworks (HWs) roughly every 1-2 weeks. Submission should be in class (hard copy) or electronically on Moodle, up to midnight on that day.

Final Project

The final project will involve a topic that a student chooses to work on. This could involve reading a paper and presenting it to the class, implementing some quantum algorithm, or even (ideally, hopefully) presenting new results that you worked on. More details about the final project will be fleshed out during the semester.

Past tests

Feedback

Students are encouraged to send feedback to Prof. Baron, barondror dot {gmail dot com, ncsu dot edu}.