CS 499 - Quantum Algorithms

Term and Credits

Fall 2025-2026
3 Credits

Room and Time

Section 001 - TR 12:30AM -1:50PM Prof. Boady [3675 Market Street Room 1063]

Instructor

Mark Boady
Electronic Mail Address: mwb33@drexel.edu
Office: 3675 Market Street Room 1063 (near snack machine)
Office Hours: M/T/W/R 2-3PM

Course Description

Covers the basics of Quantum Computing and famous algorithms. Introduces qubits, quantum gates, and quantum circuits. Examines the linear algebra and mathematical concepts needed to understand quantum circuits. Studies crucial quantum algorithms including Deutsch-Jozsa, Simon, Shor, and Grover. Examines current topics in quantum algorithms.

Course Objective and Goals

1. Understand what a qubit is.
2. Understand all basic quantum gates.
3. Relate linear algebra to quantum computing.
4. Program and apply famous quantum algorithms.
5. Modify existing algorithms to create new programs.

Topics

1. Linear Algebra and Complex Numbers
2. Qubits and Quantum Gates
3. Classical Computation on Quantum Systems
4. Deutsch-Jozsa Algorithm
5. Simon's Algorithm
6. Shor's Algorithm
7. Quantum Fourier Transform
8. Grover's Algorithm
9. Current topics in Quantum Algorithms

Audience and Purpose within Plan of Study

This class is targeted at Computer Science Majors or Computer Science Minors in related majors (Physics/Engineering) students. It assumes a significant amount of algorithmic and low level computer knowledge. It is targeted at students who want to tranfer their traditional programming skills into quantum algorithm design and programming.

Prerequisites
This class has no official prerequisites.
This subject benefits from the abilities to creatively use the software development and mathematical tools. Programming and Linear Algebra experience was expected.

What Students Should Know Prior to this Course

1. Basics of Linear Algebra
2. Algorithm Design and Analysis
3. Programming in a High Level Programming Language
4. Logic and it's relation to computer circuits
5. General mathematical skills

What Students will be able to do upon Successfully Completing this Course: Statement of Expected Learning

1. Implement quantum circuit given an existing algorithm
2. Test and analyze quantum circuits
3. Modify existing quantum algorithms to solve problems
4. Explain why quantum algorithms work correctly.

Textbook

Grading and Policies

• Reflections: 10%
• Homework Assignments: 50%
• Project Presentation 1: 20%
• Project Presentation 2: 20%

Final grades will be determined by your total points weighted according to this distribution. Grades may be curved but are generally computed via the formula below. It may be modified at the instructor's sole discretion, but letter grades will generally not be lower than those shown here.

• [100-97]A+
• (97-93] A
• (93-90]A-
• (90-87]B+
• (87-83] B
• (83-80]B-
• [80-77]C+
• (77-73] C
• (73-70]C-
• (70-67]D+
• (67-60]D
• (60-0]F

Course Material

Late Policy

• Assignments/Readings
  • You may submit assignments at a penalty for a few days.
  • Penalties: 5 points per day up to a maximum of 10 days (or Wednesday of Exam week, whichever comes first)
• Late Passes
  • We understand that sometimes unforeseen circumstances will effect your life.
  • Each student is allowed 2 Late Passes.
  • Using a Late Pass will remove a 1 day penalty from any assignment or reading.
  • To use a late pass: send a slack message to your TA informing them that you want to use a pass and what assignment to apply it for.
  • The Professor must be informed before the original deadline for the assignment.
• Special Exceptions: In exceptional circumstances, the Professor may wave additional penalties or accept work past the cut-off. Please message the Professor directly to request a special exception. Documentation (Doctor Note, Police Report, Athletics Approval, etc) is generally preferred.
• Family Friendly Policy: We understand that some students have family obligations. If you need to miss class for a family emergency please use the Special Exceptions policy. If needed for special occasions, small children are allowed in class, but please do your best to keep classroom distruptions to a minimum.

Academic Honesty Policy

The CCI Academic Honesty policy is in effect for this course. Please see the policy at http://drexel.edu/cci/resources/current-students/undergraduate/policies/cs-academic-integrity/.

Academic Honesty Violations will be reported to the University. Punishment will be determined by the severity of the incident. Punishments include, but are not limited to,

• Failing grade for class
• Deduction of one letter grade
• Zero on Assignment/Exam Violation took place on

Components

Reflections

Each week you will reflect on the concepts you learned in a reading assignment in a short written reflection.

Homework Assignments

There will be 8 homework assignments. Some will be written and some will be programming.

Presentations

Each student will present two (midterm and final) presentations of quantum algorithms. Student will select topics from areas not covered by class. The student will present a teaching lecture on the topic via a recorded video.

University Policies
In addition to the course policies listed on this syllabus, course assignments or course website, the following University policies are in effect:

• Computer/Software Help provided by iCommons: https://drexel.edu/cci/current-students/icommons/
• Academic Integrity: https://drexel.edu/studentlife/community-standards/code-of-conduct/academic-integrity-policy
• Academic Integrity Pertaining to Artificial Intelligence: https://drexel.edu/provost/policies-calendars/policies/academic_integrity_artificial_intelligence/
• Academic Integrity Conduct Process: https://drexel.edu/studentlife/community-standards/code-of-conduct/academic-integrity-policy/conduct-process
• Official Final Exam Schedule: http://www.drexel.edu/registrar/scheduling/exams/
• Students with Disability Statement: https://drexel.edu/disability-resources/support-accommodations/student-family-resources
• Course Drop Policy: https://drexel.edu/provost/policies-calendars/policies/course-add-drop/
• Drexel Student Learning Priorities: https://drexel.edu/institutionalresearch/assessment/outcomes/dslp/
• The instructor may, at his/her/their discretion, change any part of the course during the term, including assignments, grade brakdowns, due-dates, and the schedule. Such changes will be communicated to students via the course web site Announcements page. This page should be checked regularly and frequently for such changes and announcements. Other announcements, although rare, may include class cancellations and other urgent announcements.

CCI's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

The College of Computing & Informatics commits to creating a positive and safe learning environment for everyone - instructors, professional staff, and students - both inside and outside of the classroom. We embrace the diversity of thoughts, perspectives, and experiences that each community member brings, and we honor everyone's identity (including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, age, gender, socioeconomic status, sexuality, religion, veteran status, and disability). We encourage each community member to share information regarding pronouns, religious and cultural holidays, accommodations, and any other information that will assist instructors in fostering a supportive and inclusive community environment. For more information about CCI's commitment to DEI, visit Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council | Drexel CCI.

Appropriate Use of Course Materials

It is important to recognize that some or all of the course materials provided to you are the intellectual property of Drexel University, the course instructor, or others. Use of this intellectual property is governed by Drexel University policies, including the IT-1 policy found at: https://drexel.edu/it/about/policies/policies/01-Acceptable-Use/
Briefly, this policy states that all course materials including recordings provided by the given prior written approval by the University. Doing so may be considered a breach of this policy and will be investigated and addressed as possible academic dishonesty, among other potential violations. Improper use of such materials may also constitute a violation of the University's Code of Conduct found at: https://drexel.edu/studentlife/community-standards/code-of-conduct and will be investigated as such.

Recording of Class Activities:

In general, students and others should not record course interactions and course activities in lecture, lab, studio or recitation.
Students who have an approved accommodation from the Office of Disability Resources to record online lectures and discussions for note taking purposes should inform their course instructor(s) of their approved accommodation in advance. The recording of lectures and discussions may only be carried out by the students enrolled in the class who have an approved accommodation from Disability Resources with their instructors' prior knowledge and consent. Students with approved accommodations may be asked to turn off their recorder if confidential or personal information is presented.
If a student has any comments, concerns, or questions about provided class materials and/ or recording, talk to your course instructor first. If this does not resolve the issue, you can also reach out to the Department Head, and use the process described for a grade appeal to move your concern forward. The process described for grade appeals can be found at: https://drexel.edu/provost/policies-calendars/policies/grade-appeals/

Tentative Course Schedule

Please see the appropriate assignment webpages for a detailed description of course deliverables.

Reading List

• Week 1 - Feynman, R.P. Simulating physics with computers. Int J Theor Phys 21, 467–488 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02650179
• Week 2 - Crash Course in Quantum Gates. https://qmunity.thequantuminsider.com/2024/07/18/crash-course-in-quantum-gates/
• Week 3 - Deutsch, David and Jozsa, Richard. "Rapid solution of problems by quantum computation." Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 1992.
• Week 4 - Simon, Daniel R. "On the Power of Quantum Computation." SIAM Journal on Computing. 1997.
• Week 5 - Grover, Lov K. "A fast quantum mechanical algorithm for database search." Proceedings of the twenty-eighth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing. 1996.
• Week 6 - Durr, Christoph and Hoyer, Peter. "A Quantum Algorithm for Finding the Minumum." arXiv. 1999.
• Week 7 - Hales, Lisa and Hallgren, Sean. "An improved quantum Fourier transform algorithm and applications." Proceedings 41st Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science. 2000.
• Week 8 - Shor, P.W. (1994). "Algorithms for quantum computation: Discrete logarithms and factoring". Proceedings 35th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science. pp. 124-134. doi:10.1109/sfcs.1994.365700. ISBN 978-0-8186-6580-6.
  Shor, Peter W. (October 1997). "Polynomial-Time Algorithms for Prime Factorization and Discrete Logarithms on a Quantum Computer". SIAM Journal on Computing. 26 (5): 1484-1509. arXiv:quant-ph/9508027. doi:10.1137/S0097539795293172. S2CID 2337707.
• Week 9 - Shor, Peter W. (1995). "Scheme for reducing decoherence in quantum computer memory". Physical Review A. 52 (4): R2493 - R2496. Bibcode:1995PhRvA..52.2493S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.52.R2493. PMID 9912632.
• Week 10 - Zajac, D. M., Sigillito, A. J., Russ, M., Borjans, F., Taylor, J. M., Burkard, G., & Petta, J. R. (2018). Resonantly driven CNOT gate for electron spins. Science, 359(6374), 439-442.
• Week 11 - Bennett, Charles H.; et al. (1992). "Experimental quantum cryptography". Journal of Cryptology. 5 (1): 3-28. doi:10.1007/bf00191318. S2CID 206771454.