Quantum resources
A curated, regularly-tended map of everything quantum I've found useful — from first lecture notes to live seminars, daily news, and the open-source tools you actually run. Everything is grouped by what you'd want to do: learn the theory, watch talks, stay current, or get your hands dirty with code.
Learn the theory
Lecture notes, full video courses, and textbooks — roughly ordered from gentle introductions to graduate-level treatments. A good place to start is Watrous or de Wolf.
Lecture notes & courses
- John Watrous — Understanding Quantum Information and Computation (arXiv:2507.11536) — PDF · YouTube series — a modern, self-contained course on the theory of quantum computing.
- Ronald de Wolf — Quantum Computing: Lecture Notes (arXiv:1907.09415) — Master’s-level notes covering computation, the main algorithms, complexity, and error correction.
- Artur Ekert — Introduction to Quantum Information Science — companion to the interactive Qubit Guide.
- Scott Aaronson — Intro to Quantum Information Science (lecture notes) — and the book-length Quantum Computing since Democritus.
- Andrew Childs — Lecture Notes on Quantum Algorithms — graduate notes on quantum walks, phase estimation, Hamiltonian simulation, HHL, and more.
- John Preskill — Ph219/CS219 Lecture Notes — the classic Caltech notes, with recorded lectures and chapters on error correction and topological QC.
- John Watrous — The Theory of Quantum Information — the more mathematical, information-theoretic companion text.
- Umesh Vazirani — Quantum Computing (Berkeley) — foundations of computation, algorithms, and complexity.
- Ryan O’Donnell — Quantum Computation & Information (lectures) — full lecture playlists.
- Nathan Wiebe — Quantum Computing Lectures — video lecture series.
- Joseph Avron — Quantum Information (Technion) — concise course notes (PDF).
- MIT OCW — Quantum Information Science (MAS.865J) — open courseware lecture notes.
- Keio University — Understanding Quantum Computers — beginner-friendly FutureLearn course.
- CQuIC (UNM) — Courses — course materials from the Center for Quantum Information and Control.
Books
- Nielsen, Michael A., and Isaac L. Chuang — Quantum Computation and Quantum Information. The standard reference.
- Mermin, N. David — Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction.
- Kaye, P., R. Laflamme, and M. Mosca — An Introduction to Quantum Computing (Oxford University Press, 2007).
- Le Bellac, Michel — A Short Introduction to Quantum Information and Quantum Computation.
- Berman, G. P., G. D. Doolen, R. Mainieri, and V. I. Tsifrinovich — Introduction to Quantum Computers.
Seminars & talks
Live and recorded seminar series you can join from anywhere, plus the in-person seminars across Israeli institutions.
Online quantum seminars
- Virtual AMO Seminar (VAMOS) — biweekly Fridays, 12 pm PST / 3 pm EST (part of DAMOP).
- Quantum Science Seminar — Thursdays, 5 pm.
- Virtual Seminar on Precision Physics & Fundamental Symmetries — for the precision-physics and quantum-information community, every Thursday.
- Brookhaven Quantum Seminars — biweekly virtual seminars on quantum information, usually Wednesdays at 12 pm (Zoom).
- University of Michigan — Quantum Science Seminar (Zoom).
- Joint Quantum Institute — Events (Zoom).
- QSE Quantum Seminar Series (EPFL).
- Qiskit Quantum Seminars (YouTube).
- NC State University — Quantum Seminars.
- Quantum Theory Seminar (Cornell).
- Quantum Matter Seminars (Northwestern).
- Quantum Information Seminar (Fields Institute).
- Quantum Meets @ IIIT — YouTube channel.
Israel quantum seminars
- Quantum Center Seminar (HUJI).
- Quantum Events (Technion).
- Center for Quantum Science & Technology (Weizmann).
- AMOS Seminar (Weizmann).
- WIS-Q Seminar (Weizmann).
- Quantum Computing Seminar (TAU).
Stay current
Where to follow the field day-to-day — news outlets and journals, researcher blogs, and the official blogs of the companies building the hardware.
News & journals
- The Quantum Insider — Daily.
- Inside Quantum Technology.
- Quantum Computing Report — News.
- Quanta Magazine — Physics.
- Phys.org — Quantum Physics.
- Nature Physics.
- Physical Review Letters — Highlights.
Researcher blogs
- Shtetl-Optimized (Scott Aaronson) — and his column at American Scientist.
- Quantum Frontiers — the IQIM blog, including John Preskill’s posts.
- Quantum Country — beautiful interactive essays on quantum computing.
- Vlatko Vedral’s Blog.
- Sean Carroll — Preposterous Universe.
- Backreaction (Sabine Hossenfelder).
- QuBytes — paper summaries written by students.
Industry blogs
Code & tools
Hands-on resources: curated link collections, interactive simulators, coding tutorials, and open-source software you can run today.
Curated lists & tools
- Awesome Quantum Computing — a large community-curated index.
- QOSF — Learning Resources on Quantum Computing — from the Quantum Open Source Foundation.
- IonQ Quantum Resources.
- Quirk — Quantum Circuit Simulator — drag-and-drop circuits in your browser.
Tutorials & simulators
- Quantum Error Correction: Shor Code in Qiskit.
- Quantum Error Correction: Phase-Flip Code in Qiskit.
- IonSim — Trapped-ion simulator.
Open-source projects
- Open Quantum — open-source quantum software and documentation.
Why quantum computing?
If you ever need a one-paragraph answer to “why bother with quantum computers?”, Scott Aaronson’s framing (pictured) is hard to beat: quantum computing isn’t about “trying all answers in parallel” — it’s about choreographing interference so that the wrong answers cancel out and the right ones reinforce. The resources above are the long version of that story.