Tutorials

Step-by-step tutorials for learning Piccolo.jl. Each tutorial builds on previous ones, introducing new concepts progressively.

Learning Path

For Beginners

If you're new to quantum optimal control or Piccolo.jl:

1. Your First Gate - Complete walkthrough of X gate synthesis
2. State Transfer - Learn about KetTrajectory for state preparation
3. Multilevel Transmon - Work with realistic multilevel systems

For Experienced Users

If you're familiar with quantum control concepts:

1. Multilevel Transmon - EmbeddedOperator and leakage suppression
2. Robust Control - SamplingProblem for parameter robustness

Tutorial Overview

Prerequisites

Before starting the tutorials, ensure you have:

1. Julia 1.10+ installed
2. Piccolo.jl installed: using Pkg; Pkg.add("Piccolo")
3. CairoMakie for plotting: using Pkg; Pkg.add("CairoMakie")

Test your setup:

using Piccolo
using CairoMakie

println("Setup complete!")

What You'll Learn

Your First Gate

• Defining quantum systems with QuantumSystem
• Creating control pulses with ZeroOrderPulse
• Setting optimization goals with UnitaryTrajectory
• Solving with SmoothPulseProblem
• Analyzing results with fidelity() and plotting

State Transfer

• Using KetTrajectory for state-to-state transfer
• Working with MultiKetTrajectory for multiple state mappings
• Understanding coherent fidelity for phase-sensitive gates

Multilevel Transmon

• Using TransmonSystem for realistic superconducting qubits
• Defining subspace gates with EmbeddedOperator
• Suppressing leakage to higher energy levels
• Using PiccoloOptions for leakage handling

Robust Control

• Creating system variants for parameter uncertainty
• Using SamplingProblem for robust optimization
• Evaluating robustness across parameter ranges
• Combining robustness with time optimization

Running the Tutorials

Each tutorial is a complete, runnable Julia script. You can:

1. Read online: Follow along in the documentation
2. Run locally: Download the .jl file from the docs/literate/ folder
3. Copy-paste: Copy code blocks into your Julia REPL

Next Steps

After completing the tutorials:

• Explore Problem Templates for the full API
• Read Concepts for detailed documentation
• Check How-To Guides for specific tasks