Quantum Mechanics, Secrets, and Randomness brought to Algiers at Qiskit Fall Fest 2022

After weeks of preparation, Constantine Quantum Technologies finally got to introduce Qiskit Fall Fest’s participants at ESI, Algiers, to the world of quantum technologies. On the menu: a lecture on Quantum Mechanics by Dr. Taha Rouabah, as well as workshops and challenges on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Quantum Random Numbers Generation (QRNG) by CQTech members Abdellah Tounsi, Mohamed Messaoud Louamri, and Nacer Belaloui.

Starting at 9am, Dr. Rouabah gave a talk that introduced Quantum Mechanics to the participants, most of whom were computer science students, starting from its origins and basic concepts to the quantum bit and its applications. Vardaan Sahgal, Ricky Young, and Mohamed Amine Garrach then gave talks on Industrial Applications of Quantum Computing, the qBraid platform, and Cryptography. These last three speakers had virtually joined Algiers for the event from three different continents!

After the lunch break, it was again up to CQTech to lead the participants through the quantum realm with two extensive workshops on QKD and QRNG. In QKD, the BB84 protocol was presented with both its advantages and weaknesses. One weakness in particular, which makes it vulnerable to the PNS attack, was explained. The participants then learned about the BBM92 protocol that deals with it.
As for the QRNG workshop, CQTech mentors focused on quantum superposition, measurement and wave function collapse, quantum gates, and noise. This helped the participants understand quantum randomness.

Having attended several talks and with some hands-on experience with Qiskit under their belts, they then applied their newly acquired skills in two challenges from CQTech on QKD and QRNG, and a challenge from qBraid. They worked on the BB84 and BBM92 protocols in the QKD challenge, and generated true random numbers using quantum randomness in the QRNG challenge. They also got to use the qBraid platform for the American startup challenge. At the end, the four winners of the CQTech challenges were Nour Boumediene, Brouthen Kamel, Ihssene brahimi, and Mehdi Zakaria Adjal, while the sole winner of qBraid’s challenge was Mohamed Touami.