Student Club Takes the Leap into Quantum Computing
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It was late on Friday afternoon, and, of all the places they could be, a dozen University of California San Diego students gathered for a quantum computing club in Qualcomm Institute’s Atkinson Hall. The enthusiasm was palpable.
Three of the club’s officers — Rebecca Breihan, Ryan Batubara and Dan Van — took turns explaining quantum computing concepts including vectors, matrices, complex numbers, probability and qubits, writing out equations on the conference room whiteboard and responding to a host of questions.
“Historically, quantum computing has been a field predominantly of graduate students and professionals, and undergrads don’t have much opportunity to develop their knowledge,” said Breihan, president of the Quantum Computing Student Association at UC San Diego and a double major in photonics (ECE) in the Jacobs School of Engineering and computing arts (Visual Arts) in the School of Arts and Humanities. “Our club aims to lower the barrier of entry to quantum computing for undergraduate students.”
Majors currently represented by participants in the club include math, data science, electrical engineering, visual arts, nanoengineering, biology, and more — the organization is open to all students of all backgrounds. In the Friday afternoon seminars, new members gain foundational knowledge they can later enhance in the club’s programming workshops, hackathons and other activities.
Rewriting the odds
Unlike traditional computing, quantum computing relies on the rules of quantum physics, the science of how tiny particles like electrons and photons behave. Instead of using bits that represent either a 0 or a 1, quantum computers use qubits, which take us into new territory.
UC San Diego student Dan Van, who sees the math behind quantum as "very beautiful," explains quantum computing concepts to fellow students on a Friday afternoon. (Photo by Mika Elizabeth Ono/UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute)
“What sets quantum computing apart is the specific form of the probabilities,” said Mathematics and computer science and electrical engineering Assistant Professor Daniel Grier, one of UC San Diego’s quantum computing experts who has spoken to the club. Grier mentions one useful mathematical tool in quantum is negative probability, which does not have a standard physical interpretation.
“In quantum mechanics, you could have a coin that will land on heads with 50% probability and land on tails with negative 50% probability (technically, you need a concept called "amplitudes" here, but it's close enough),” he said. “It's this interplay between the positive and negative probabilities that makes quantum computing distinctive, and ultimately why you need a lot of math to understand what's going on.”
This feature could make quantum computing exponentially better at certain problems, potentially revolutionizing artificial intelligence, materials science and drug development.
“Unfortunately, all of these tasks share a similar problem,” said Grier, “which is that the most interesting questions we might hope to answer in each domain cannot be solved by the quantum computers that we have today.”
‘Scientific gambling’ and more
Students in the quantum computing club seem undaunted by the nascent state of the field.
“Originally, I was interested because my favorite professor was working in quantum computing,” said Van, a UC San Diego alumnus and computer science master’s student who hopes to go into academia. “I got drawn in by the promises, but now I realize the math behind it is very beautiful.”
Batubara, a mathematics–computer science and data science double major, concurred: “I started off with the math. The very premise of quantum is you just change one thing about how you think about probability, and then you get all these very beautiful implications and all these very weird things that go against what we think is supposed to happen, but actually do happen in nature.”
Breihan compared the probabilistic nature of the field to “scientific gambling” and called it “thrilling.”
For Breihan, the unanswered questions and untapped potential are attractions, rather than deterrents: “I’m drawn to that sense of exploration where I'm standing at the frontier of a technology that’s still being defined. There are ample opportunities for development and growth.”
"I’m drawn to that sense of exploration where I'm standing at the frontier of a technology that’s still being defined," says club president Rebecca Breihan, shown here giving a hands-on demonstration of the power of quantum computing to encode secure messages. (Photo by Areli Alvarez/UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute)
And that growth might happen, given the massive investments in quantum being made by governments (including the United States, France and China) and companies (IBM, Google, and more). Some sources, such as QURECA (Quantum Resources and Careers), estimate current worldwide investments exceed $55.7 billion.
While a quantum era might offer many advantages, Breihan is aware there are potential downsides as well.
“I'm waiting for Q-Day,” Breihan said. “That's the term for the day quantum hardware is good enough that people can break RSA encryption [which currently enables secure online communication and transactions]. It’s both exciting and unsettling, a reminder that technological progress cuts both ways. I want to be one of the people strengthening our defenses before that moment arrives, ensuring our digital world remains secure in the quantum era.”
Growing Interest
In the meantime, the club’s executive team aims to continue to expand the club.
Since the group was founded in 2021 by Ben Sachs and Thomas Sievert, interns in UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute (QI) Quantum Internship Program mentored by QI Research Scientist Nikola Alic, the group’s Discord channel has grown to about 500 members, with 30 to 40 highly active participants.
To strengthen its base, club members are tabling at events around campus. They are also planning to launch a new website, complete with videos of some of their mini lectures.
A variety of activities continue to enhance the club’s appeal. This fall, club members are participating in IBM’s Qiskit Fall Fest, which includes quantum challenges, hackathons, coding competitions and workshops using the quantum software development tool Qiskit.
To learn more, visit the group’s Discord page or website. You can also follow the club on Instagram and YouTube.
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