In the first part of the course, we separated the execution of a quantum algorithm into a set of layers:

The topmost of these layers represents the abstract description of the algorithm, which may ignore various aspects of the device we wish to run it on. In order to execute it on a device of our choosing, we have to translate it into a series of instructions that our device will support, and subsequently into physical signals which can be used to control qubits ‘on the chip’. In this module, Carmen G. Almudever begins by reviewing this ‘quantum stack’, as well as its lowest layer, the physical qubits themselves. In the subsequent lectures, Fabio Sebastiano describes the challenges in constructing the “Quantum-to-Classical” layer, second from the bottom.

These three lectures begin our journey upwards through the stack. We hope you find them exciting and enlightening.