the project

one build, all year, fall and spring. study sessions teach an idea, and lab nights put it into the build. here's the whole thing:

• you write a quantum circuit in Qiskit.
• our compiler turns it into a list of simple instructions.
• the instructions run on a target.
• we check the answer against Qiskit.

four targets, in this order

1. a python version of our machine. fall.
2. the Qubis, run by hand. fall. Qubis are handheld qubits: you tap, flick and bump them to run gates, then shake them to measure.
3. the Qubis, run from a laptop. spring, and only if Qubi releases the software for it.
4. an FPGA emulator written in Verilog. spring.

none of these is a real quantum computer. the FPGA is normal hardware doing the quantum math.

three subteams

• 

  systems. runs our instructions on the Qubis this fall and learns Verilog, then builds the FPGA emulator in spring. first task: run a Bell state by hand on the Qubi pair 20 times and tally how often the two Qubis agree.

• 

  programmer. writes the compiler, the python version of our machine, and the code that compares answers. first task: join the GitHub repo and write a script that prints the instruction list for a Bell state.

• 

  theory. picks the gates and test circuits, works out the right answers, and writes the paper. first task: work the Bell state on paper and check it against Qiskit.

each subteam picks its own lead, and you can join any of them with zero experience, even partway through the year: we'll give you the material to get caught up.

two checkpoints

• fall demo, dec 9. a circuit goes through our compiler, runs on the python version of our machine and matches Qiskit. we run the same instructions by hand on the Qubis.
• final showcase, apr 21. every target we finished, the test results, and the paper.

spring dates can still move. we decide how far to take the FPGA emulator at spring kickoff.

every date is on the schedule →