Training

Training

QuantumX seeks to cultivate a workforce with expertise in quantum science, engineering and technology. Relevant courses are offered through the UW departments of Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering.

Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies (AQET), a new National Science Foundation Research Training program for UW graduate students, is one of the first quantum information science and technology programs to bring hardware and software scientists and engineers together at the trainee level. AQET trainees acquire the skills to develop new quantum materials, devices, and algorithms for applications in computation, communication, and sensing.

A new transcriptable Graduate Certificate in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE) is being created, and will be ready for students to pursue starting in Autumn 2022. This Graduate Certificate in QISE is what all AQET trainees will receive after completing the program, but it can also be earned by students outside of the AQET NRT program. Check back later for more information about the Graduate Certificate in QISE, or email uwqis@uw.edu to learn more.

Courses

The following courses will be offered during the 2022-2023 Academic Year at UW. To see all Quantum-related courses that UW offers, click here

Keep in mind that these courses may not be available to every department, so make sure to learn more about courses you are interested in and confirm your eligibility. 

Courses marked below with * will satisfy a course requirement for the Graduate Certificate in QISE.

*EE 500Q: Quantum Information Science and Engineering Seminar
Weekly presentations from quantum scientists across multiple disciplines; covering industry, academia, and national lab experiences in QISE.
*required for QISE Certificate
Professor Kai-Mei Fu / Winter 2023

Quantum Information Science

Quantum information science seeks to understand how fundamental laws of quantum physics can be used to dramatically improve the acquisition, transmission, and processing of information.

Courses in this area discuss basic, intermediate and advanced concepts of quantum information and quantum computation: qubits, entanglement, quantum gates and quantum algorithms, quantum error correction, as well as topics including physical qubits and quantum computing architectures.

PHYS 107: Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, and the Foundations of the Modern Technological World
Professor Miguel Morales / Winter 2023

PHYS 225: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
Emphasizes two-state systems. Introduces spin and applications in nuclear magnetic resonance.
Professor Gray Rybka / Autumn 2022 Course Info

PHYS 324: Quantum Mechanics – Part I
Introduction to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics: need for quantum theory, Schrodinger equation, operators, angular momentum, the hydrogen atom, identical particles, and the periodic table.
Professor Subdaheep Gupta / Autumn 2022 Course Info

PHYS 325: Quantum Mechanics – Part II
Continuation of PHYS 324. Introduction to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics: perturbation theory, the variational principle, radiation; application of quantum mechanics to atomic physics, magnetic resonance, scattering, and various special topics.
Professor Subdaheep Gupta / Winter 2023

PHYS 421: Atomic Physics
Survey of the principal phenomena of atomic and molecular physics.
Professor Boris Blinov / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

PHYS 517: Quantum Mechanics
First of a three-part sequence. Modern non-relativistic quantum mechanics developed, beginning with its basic principles. Dirac and abstract operator notation introduced, starting with simple examples
Professor Silas Beane / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

PHYS 518: Quantum Mechanics
Second of a three-part sequence.
Professor Silas Beane / Winter 2023

PHYS 519: Quantum Mechanics
Third of a three-part sequence.
Professor Justin Kaidi / Spring 2023 

*PHYS 521: Quantum Information
Quantum information and quantum computing. Landauer’s Principle, density matrices, Bell and CHSH inequalities, GHZ state, quantum circuits, noisy gates, universality, superdense coding, quantum teleportation algorithms, open quantum systems, decoherence, quantum error correction and fault tolerance, physical implementations
*satisfies Introductory Requirement for QISE Certificate
Professor Mark Rudner / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

EE 522: Quantum Information Practicum
*satisfies Independent Research Requirement for QISE Certificate
Professor Sara Mouradian / Spring 2023

*PHYS 576: Implementations in Quantum Information
This project-based course is designed to highlight the challenges of implementing quantum information systems. The course will utilize IonQ quantum hardware as well as IonQ’s quantum hardware, accessed via Microsoft’s Azure Quantum.
*satisfies Implementations Requirement for QISE Certificate.
Professor Kai-Mei Fu and Postdoc Linghua Zhu / Winter 2023

*CHEM 561: Introduction to Quantum Information Science and Engineering for Chemists and Materials Scientists
Mathematical and quantum mechanical foundations, qubits, coherence, entanglement, applications, and materials systems. Prerequisite: CHEM 455 (or equivalent), or permission of instructor ; recommended: a course in physical and/or quantum chemistry.
*satisfies Introductory Requirement for QISE Certificate
Professors Brandi Cossairt and Peter Pauzauskie / Autumn 2022

PHYS 570: Quantum Field Theory
Emphasizes either relativistic quantum field theory or the many-body problem.
Professor Masha Baryakhtar / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

PHYS 571: Quantum Field Theory
Professor Masha Baryakhtar / Winter 2023

PHYS 572: Quantum Field Theory
Professor Natalie Paquette / Spring 2023

PHYS 578A: Quantum Information and Simulation for Scientific Applications
Covers research at the forefront of quantum information science, quantum computing and theoretical physics that is enabling the early progress in quantum simulations of quantum systems of future importance for scientific applications.
Professor Martin Savage / Spring 2023

Quantum Technology

Quantum technology broadly describes fields of applied research encompassing computational, imaging and sensing devices that use quantum effects for enhanced performance.

Courses in this area focus on practical applications and physical implementations of systems based on properties of quantum mechanics, such as quantum computing, quantum cryptography, quantum simulations, quantum sensors, quantum metrology and quantum imaging.

PHYS 419: Quantum Computing (Undergraduate)
Introduction to the theory and practice of quantum computation. Includes physics of information processing, quantum logic, quantum algorithms, quantum error correction, quantum communication, and cryptography.
Professor Boris Blinov / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

EE 421 + 521: Quantum Mechanics for Engineers
Covers the basic theory of quantum mechanics in the context of modern examples of technological importance involving 1D, 2D, and 3D nanomaterials. Develops a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the principles of quantization, band structure, density of states, and Fermi’s golden rule (optical absorption, electron-impurity/phonon scattering).
Professor M.P. (Anant) Anantram / Winter 2023

CHEM 465 + 565: Computational Chemistry 
Basics of molecular quantum chemistry (Hartree-Fock and density functional theory); numerical implementation using computers, including basics of programming and scientific computing; applications to problems in chemistry.
Professor Xiaosong Li / Winter 2023

EE 487 + 587: Introduction to Photonics
Introduction to optical principles and phenomena. Topics include electromagnetic theory of light, interference, diffraction, polarization, photon optics, laser principles, Gaussian beam optics, semiconductor optics, semiconductor photonic devices.
Professor Lih Lin / Autumn 2022 Course Info

EE 488 + 588: Advanced Photonics
Professor Lih Lin / Winter 2023 

CSE 490Q: Undergraduate Quantum Computing
Professor James Lee / Spring 2023

EE 528: Quantum Optics for Quantum Information Application
Professor Rahul Trivedi / Spring 2023

EE 535: Applied Nanophotonics
Professor Arka Majumdar / Spring 2023

EE 539: Nanotechnology Modeling
Professor Scott Dunham / Winter 2023

PHYS 575: Quantum Computing (Graduate)
Introduction to the theory and practice of quantum computation. Includes physics of information processing, quantum logic, quantum algorithms, quantum error correction, quantum communication, and cryptography.
Professor Boris Blinov / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

EE P 598 B: Quantum Mechanics & Quantum Computing Basics
Professor MP (Anant) Anantram / Summer 2022 / Course Info

*CSE 599Q: Introduction to Quantum Computing
An introduction to the field of quantum computing from the perspective of computer science theory. Quantum computing leverages the revolutionary potential of computers that exploit the parallelism of the quantum mechanical laws of the universe.
*satisfies Introductory Requirement for the QISE Certificate.
Professor James Lee / Autumn 2022 / Learn more

Quantum Materials

Quantum materials possess unusual properties, based on quantum mechanical interactions, that could revolutionize many fields of technology.

Courses in this area describe properties and development of these materials which and have a wide range of potential applications including magnetic field sensing, low-power memory modules, high-density storage devices, quantum computers and energy-related technologies.

CHEM 455: Physical Chemistry
Introduction to quantum chemistry and spectroscopy. Theory of quantum mechanics presented at an elementary level and applied to the electronic structure of atoms and molecules and to molecular spectra.
Professors David Ginger & David Masiello / Autumn 2022, Spring 2023/ Course Info 

CHEM E 456: Quantum Mechanics for Chemical Engineers
Provides chemical engineers with the theoretical and mathematical framework necessary to approach quantum mechanical problems in engineering, while also making explicit ties to the chemical engineering undergraduate core curriculum.
Professor Vince Holmberg / Autumn 2022 Course Info

CHEM 485 + 585: Electronic Structure and Application of Materials
Introduction to electronic structure theory of solids from a chemical perspective, including band theory and the free electron model, with an emphasis in the second half of the quarter on modern trends in research in inorganic materials in the bulk and on the nanometer scale.
Professor Alexandra Velian / Winter 2023

CHEM 486 + 586: Electronic Dynamics in Organic and Inorganic Materials
Energy and charge transfer; exciton migration and charge transport; photophysical dynamics in optoelectronic and kinetic processes in electrochemical energy conversion.
Professor Cody Schlenker / Spring 2023

MSE 498 / 599: Quantum Hall Defects and Topological Insulators
Professor Di Xiao / Spring 2023

EE 527: Micro and Nanofabrication
Principles and techniques for the fabrication of microelectronics devices and integrated circuits. Includes clean room laboratory practices and chemical safety, photolithography, wet and dry etching, oxidation and diffusion, metallization and dielectric deposition, compressed gas systems, vacuum systems, thermal processing systems, plasma systems, and metrology.
Professor Mo Li / Spring 2023 

MSE 541: Defects in Materials
Professor Peter Pauzauskie / Winter 2023

CHEM 550: Introduction to Quantum Chemistry
Origins and basic postulates of quantum mechanics, solutions to single-particle problems, angular momentum and hydrogenic wave functions, matrix methods, perturbation theory, variational methods.
Professor Anne McCoy / Autumn 2022 / Course Info

CHEM 551: Introduction to Quantum Chemistry
Electronic structure of many-electron atoms and molecules, vibration and rotation levels of molecules, effects of particle exchange, angular momentum and group theory, spectroscopic selection rules.
Professor Munira Khalil / Winter 2023

PHYS 578A: Quantum Dynamics in Condensed Matter Systems
Professor Mark Rudner / Autumn 2022 / Course Info