Quantum Information Review (Perimeter Institute / PIRSA)

Daniel Gottesman invented stabilizer codes and made foundational contributions to quantum error correction. His Quantum Information Review series at Perimeter Institute is the closest thing to a graduate seminar from one of the field’s central figures, available free to anyone through the Perimeter Institute Recorded Seminar Archive (PIRSA).

The lectures were recorded for the Perimeter Scholars International (PSI) master’s program and reflect the depth expected of graduate students in theoretical physics.

What you’ll learn

The series covers quantum information theory at a level that goes beyond most online courses:

• Quantum states: pure states, density matrices, the partial trace, and Schmidt decomposition
• Entanglement: measures of entanglement, Bell inequalities, and nonlocality
• Quantum channels: Kraus operators, completely positive maps, and the Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism
• Quantum error correction: the Knill-Laflamme conditions, the stabilizer formalism, CSS codes, and the relationship between classical and quantum error correction
• Fault-tolerant quantum computation: threshold theorems and transversal gates
• Quantum cryptography: BB84 key distribution, security proofs, and quantum key distribution protocols
• Quantum information theory: von Neumann entropy, quantum mutual information, and channel capacity

Course structure

Fourteen hour-long recorded lectures, available as MP4 video, MP3 audio, and PDF slides. Each lecture is self-contained enough to be watched independently, though the series builds progressively toward fault tolerance and information theory.

The PSI 2018/2019 version (the most recent) is the recommended starting point. Earlier recorded versions of the same course are also available on PIRSA for comparison.

Who is this for?

• Graduate students in physics or computer science working on quantum information research
• Researchers who want to understand stabilizer codes and error correction from their inventor
• Advanced self-learners who have completed an introductory quantum computing course and want the full graduate-level treatment

Prerequisites

Quantum mechanics at the undergraduate level and comfort with linear algebra are required. Familiarity with basic quantum computing concepts (qubits, gates, circuits) is assumed. This series is not a first course in quantum computing.

Why take this course?

Most quantum error correction resources either oversimplify or require access to a university library. Gottesman’s lectures occupy the rare middle ground: mathematically complete, taught by the person who invented much of the formalism, and freely available to anyone with an internet connection.

The PIRSA archive hosts lectures from many of the world’s leading quantum information researchers. The Gottesman series is among the most consistently recommended resources in quantum error correction by practitioners in the field.