Quantum Computing Setup Guide

Welcome to the Quantum Computing Setup Guide! This repository contains code for setting up python for quantum computing using Qiskit. This guide has a companion document explaning the setup.

Easy setup

Windows

Using powershell run irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LowkeyCoding/QuantumSetup/refs/heads/master/setup.ps1 | iex With cmd use powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LowkeyCoding/QuantumSetup/refs/heads/master/setup.ps1 | iex"

Known Issues

• Powershell 5 and older are unable to run the install script.
  • Go to upgrade guide to upgrade powershell.
• Symengine DLL failed to load
  • Go to Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and download the latest version.

Linux/MacOS

curl -LsSf https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LowkeyCoding/QuantumSetup/refs/heads/master/setup.sh | sh

Manual setup (without uv)

Step 1: Download Python 3

Download and install Python 3 from the official Python website: Python.org. Follow the installation instructions provided for your operating system.

Step 2: Setup Python environment

Go to your deseired folder for your quantum project and open a terminal or comand prompt and use the following commands to create and activate an environment.

Windows

py -m venv .venv .venv\Scripts\activate

If you encounter an error like scripts cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system you need to adjust your PowerShell execution policy. This can be done by running the following command in an elevated PowerShell window (run as administrator):

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

This command allows the execution of locally stored scripts and remote scripts signed by trusted publishers.

Unix/Mac

python3 -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate

To enter the project's virtual environment, you'll need to run the second command. It's crucial to ensure you're in the virtual environment, especially when installing packages. This helps prevent conflicts with system-wide packages. Make sure to check if you're in the virtual environment by verifying if (.venv) is appended to the current path in the terminal before installing any packages. If you are still unsure, then you can run the second command to enter it.

Step 3: Install Qiskit and Required Packages

To create a basic setup with a couple of helpful packages for quantum computing, install the following packages.

pip install qiskit matplotlib pylatexenc numpy python-dotenv

Step 4: Environment file

First step is creating an environment file with the name .env in your project folder. This file should never be shared, as anyone who has access will be able to spend credits. If you are using git, this can be avoided by adding it to the .gitignore file, by adding the line .env. The environment file operates as a key-value store, utilizing the format key = value, with each key on a separate line. In subsequent guides for various backends, we will employ the .env file to store login information.

Step 5: Install the backends you want to use

This repository supports four backends. You can obtain the setup for any backend in two ways:

• Clone the entier repository: This provides access to all backends
• Clone the specific backend branch: This only provides access to the specific branch selected.

git clone -b <branchname> --single-branch <remote-repo-url>

To follow the setup guide for a specific backend, the easiest approach is to check out the individudal branches README.md for more information:

• IBM Backend Branch
• Azure Backend Branch
• Braket Backend Branch
• AER Backend Branch

Step 5: Optionally install Jupyter

Jupyter is a powerful tool for developing quantum algorithms due to its interactive nature. With Jupyter notebooks, developers can write code interspersed with explanatory text, equations, and visualizations. This makes it easy to experiment with different quantum algorithms, visualize quantum states, and analyze results in real-time.

To install the jupyter python package by running the following command in your terminal.

pip install jupyter

After installing the Python package, you'll also need to install the Jupyter extension for VSCode. You can do this by searching for "Jupyter" in the Extensions view and installing the "Jupyter" extension. Alternatively go to Jupyter Extension to install the extension.

Step 6: Optionally Freeze packages

To enhance project portability and ensure consistent environments for collaborators, consider freezing package versions. This can be achieved by generating a requirements.txt file listing exact package dependencies and their versions.

pip freeze > requirements.txt

Usage

Once you have selected the appropriate branch, followed the instructions provided in the README of that branch to set up your environment and run the code.

Helpful resources

• Python Documentation
• Qiskit Documentation
• Matplotlib Documentation
• Numpy Documentation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues or have suggestions for improvements, feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

Authors/Contributers

• Loke Walsted
• Torben Larsen