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Introduction to quantum computing
Quantum computing is a developing field with enormous potential societal and economic impact. In the future, quantum computers will enable us to solve a range of complex problems that are currently intractable, potentially revolutionising key sectors including medicine, finance and the pharmaceutical industry. In this free course you will learn how quantum computers exploit quantum mechanical properties like superposition and entanglement to deliver a computational power that goes way beyond the ability of classical computers. You will learn how different types of quantum gates act on qubits and analyse simple quantum circuits for yourself.
This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course SM380 Quantum physics: fundamentals and applications.
This content forms part of the Dangoor Education collection, the educational arm of The Exilarch's Foundation.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- describe a qubit and understand how it differs from a bit in classical computing
- explain how a two-qubit CNOT gate can generate entanglement between two qubits
- derive the output qubits of a quantum circuit given the input qubits
- describe different ways quantum computing is being implemented in practice.
First Published: 17/06/2025
Updated: 17/06/2025
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I only have 2 minor criticisms: sometimes the maths exercises can be quite complicated and above the level of what you are taught seemingly. However, they can be done with a bit of working through it. The course also doesn't delve into what certain things are useful for (e.g. eigenvalues and eigenvectors). However, these are very minor criticisms and can be solved with a simple google search, so don't detract from the overal 5 star rating.