Add recommended files for community support & update CONTRIBUTING.md

.github/SECURITY.md

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# Reporting security issues
+
+The Cirq developers and community take security bugs in Cirq seriously. We
+appreciate your efforts to responsibly disclose your findings, and will make
+every effort to acknowledge your contributions.
+
+Please **do not** use GitHub issues to report security vulnerabilities; GitHub
+issues are public, and doing so could allow someone to exploit the information
+before the problem can be addressed. Instead, please use the GitHub ["Report
+a Vulnerability"](https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq/security/advisories/new)
+interface from the _Security_ tab of the Cirq repository.
+
+Please security bugs in third-party modules to the person or team maintaining
+the module rather than the Cirq project stewards, unless you believe that some
+action needs to be taken with Cirq in order to guard against the effects of a
+security vulnerability in a third-party module.
+
+## Responses to security reports
+
+The project stewards at Google Quantum AI will send a response indicating the
+next steps in handling your report. After the initial reply to your report, the
+project stewards will keep you informed of the progress towards a fix and full
+announcement, and may ask for additional information or guidance.
+
+## Additional points of contact
+
+Please contact the project stewards at Google Quantum AI via email at
+[email protected] if you have questions or other concerns. If
+for any reason you are uncomfortable reaching out to the project stewards,
+please email [email protected].

CITATION.cff

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+cff-version: 1.2.0
+message: If you use this software, please cite it as below.
+authors:
+  - name: Cirq Developers
+    website: https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq/graphs/contributors
+title: Cirq
+abstract: Python package for writing, manipulating, and running quantum circuits on quantum computers and simulators.
+version: 1.4.1
+date-released: 2024-06-26
+url: https://quantumai.google/cirq
+repository-code: https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq
+license: Apache-2.0
+identifiers:
+  - type: doi
+    value: 10.5281/zenodo.4062499
+    description: Archival DOI for Cirq software releases.
+type: software
+keywords:
+  - api
+  - nisq
+  - noisy intermediate-scale quantum
+  - python
+  - quantum algorithms
+  - quantum circuit simulation
+  - quantum circuits
+  - quantum computing
+  - quantum programming
+  - quantum programming languages
+  - quantum simulation
+  - sdk
+  - simulation
+  - software

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -3,14 +3,16 @@
 We'd love to accept your patches and contributions to this project.
 We do have some guidelines to follow, covered in this document, but don't
 worry about (or expect to) get everything right the first time!
-Create a pull request and we'll nudge you in the right direction. Please also
+Create a [pull request](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_and_pull_model)
+and we'll nudge you in the right direction. Please also
 note that we have a [code of conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) to make Cirq an
-open and welcoming environment.
+open and welcoming community environment.
 
 ## Contributor License Agreement
 
-Contributions to this project must be accompanied by a Contributor License
-Agreement. You (or your employer) retain the copyright to your contribution;
+Contributions to this project must be accompanied by a [Contributor License
+Agreement](https://cla.developers.google.com/about) (CLA). You
+(or your employer) retain the copyright to your contribution;
 this simply gives us permission to use and redistribute your contributions as
 part of the project. Head over to <https://cla.developers.google.com/> to see
 your current agreements on file or to sign a new one.
@@ -26,27 +28,29 @@ use GitHub pull requests for this purpose.
 [GitHub Help](https://help.github.com/articles/about-pull-requests/) has
 information on using pull requests.
 
-The preferred manner for submitting pull requests is for users to fork
-the Cirq [repo](https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq) and then use a
-branch from this fork to create a pull request to the main Cirq repo.
-
-The basic process for setting up a fork is
-1. Fork the Cirq repo (Fork button in upper right corner of
-[repo page](https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq)).
-Forking creates a new github repo at the location
-```https://github.com/USERNAME/cirq``` where ```USERNAME``` is
-your github id. Use the directions on the
+The preferred manner for submitting pull requests is for developers to
+[fork](https://docs.github.com/articles/working-with-forks)
+the Cirq [repository](https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq) and then use a [git
+branch](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Branching-Branches-in-a-Nutshell)
+from this fork to create a pull request to the main Cirq repo. The basic process for setting
+up a fork is as follows:
+
+1. Fork the Cirq repository (you can use the _Fork_ button in upper right
+corner of the [repo home page](https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq)).
+Forking creates a new GitHub repo at the location
+`https://github.com/USERNAME/cirq`, where `USERNAME` is
+your GitHub user name. Use the instructions on the
 [development page](docs/dev/development.md) to download a copy to
 your local machine. You need only do this once.
-1. Checkout main and create a new branch from this main
+1. Check out the `main` branch and create a new branch from `main`:
     ```shell
     git checkout main -b new_branch_name
     ```
-    where ```new_branch_name``` is the name of your new branch.
+    where `new_branch_name` is the name of your new branch.
 1. Do your work and commit your changes to this branch.
-1. If you have drifted out of sync with the main from the
-main cirq repo you may need to merge in changes.  To do this,
-first update your local main and then merge the local main
+1. If your local copy has drifted out of sync with the `main` branch of the
+the main Cirq repo, you may need to merge in the latest changes.  To do this,
+first update your local `main` and then merge your local `main`
 into your branch:
     ```shell
     # Track the upstream repo (if your local repo hasn't):
@@ -60,37 +64,39 @@ into your branch:
     git checkout new_branch_name
     git merge main
     ```
-    You may need to fix merge conflicts for both of these merge
-    commands.
-1. Finally, push your change to your clone
+    You may need to fix [merge
+    conflicts](https://docs.github.com/articles/about-merge-conflicts)
+    during one or both of these merge processes.
+1. Finally, push your changes to your forked copy of the Cirq repo on GitHub:
     ```shell
     git push origin new_branch_name
     ```
-1. Now when you navigate to the cirq page on github,
-[https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq](https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq)
+1. Now when you navigate to the Cirq repository on GitHub
+([https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq](https://github.com/quantumlib/cirq)),
 you should see the option to create a new pull request from
-your clone repository.  Alternatively you can create the pull request
+your clone repository.  Alternatively, you can create the pull request
 by navigating to the "Pull requests" tab in the page, and selecting
 the appropriate branches.
-1. The reviewer will comment on your code and may ask for changes,
-you can perform these locally, and then push the new commit following
-the same process as above.
+1. A reviewer will comment on your code and may ask for changes.
+You can perform the necessary changes locally, and then push the new commit
+following the same process as above.
 
 ## Development Environment Setup
 
-Please refer to our [development page](docs/dev/development.md) for instructions
-on setting up your local development environment.
+Please refer to our [development page](docs/dev/development.md) for
+instructions on setting up your local development environment.
 
 ## Code Testing Standards
 
 When a pull request is created or updated, various automatic checks will
-run to ensure that the change won't break Cirq and meets our coding standards.
+run on GitHub to ensure that the changes won't break Cirq, as well as to make
+sure they meet the Cirq project's coding standards.
 
-Cirq contains a continuous integration tool to verify testing.  See our
+Cirq includes a continuous integration tool to perform testing.  See our
 [development page](docs/dev/development.md) on how to run the continuous
 integration checks locally.
 
-Please be aware of the following code standards that will be applied to any
+Please be aware of the following coding standards that will be applied to any
 new changes.
 
 - **Tests**.
@@ -107,23 +113,25 @@ place `# pragma: no cover` at the end of the line. To ignore coverage for
 an entire block, start the block with a `# pragma: no cover` comment on its
 own line.
 - **Lint**.
-Code should meet common style standards for python and be free of error-prone
-constructs. We use [pylint](https://www.pylint.org/) to check for lint.
+Code should meet common style standards for Python and be free of error-prone
+constructs. We use [Pylint](https://www.pylint.org/) to check for code lint.
 To see which lint checks we enforce, see the
-[dev_tools/conf/.pylintrc](dev_tools/conf/.pylintrc) file. When pylint produces
-a false positive, it can be squashed with annotations like
-`# pylint: disable=unused-import`.
+[dev_tools/conf/.pylintrc](dev_tools/conf/.pylintrc) file. When Pylint produces
+a false positive, it can be silenced with annotations. For example, the
+annotation `# pylint: disable=unused-import` would silence a warning about
+an unused import.
 - **Types**.
 Code should have [type annotations](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0484/).
 We use [mypy](http://mypy-lang.org/) to check that type annotations are correct.
-When type checking produces a false positive, it can be ignored with
-annotations like `# type: ignore`.
+When type checking produces a false positive, it can be silenced with
+annotations such like `# type: ignore`.
 
 ## Request For Comment Process for New Major Features
 
-For larger contributions that will benefit from design reviews, please use the
+For larger contributions that will benefit from design reviews, please use the Cirq
 [Request for Comment](docs/dev/rfc_process.md) process.
 
 ## Developing notebooks
 
-Please refer to our [notebooks guide](docs/dev/notebooks.md) on how to develop iPython notebooks for documentation.
+Please refer to our [notebooks guide](docs/dev/notebooks.md) on how to develop
+iPython notebooks for documentation.

SUPPORT.md

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# Support
+
+Thank you for your interest in this project! If you are experiencing problems
+or have questions, the following are some suggestions for how to get help.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Before participating in our community, please read our [code of
+> conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md). By interacting with this repository,
+> organization, or community, you agree to abide by its terms.
+
+## Report an issue or request a feature
+
+To report an issue or request a feature in Cirq, please first search the [issue
+tracker on GitHub](https://github.com/quantumlib/Cirq/issues) to check if there
+is already an open issue identical or similar to your bug report/feature
+request. If there is none, go ahead and file a new issue in the issue tracker.
+
+## Attend the developer meetings
+
+_Cirq Cynq_ is our biweekly virtual meeting of contributors to discuss
+everything from issues to ongoing efforts, as well as to ask questions. Join
+the [`cirq-dev` Google Group](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cirq-dev)
+to get an automatic meeting invitation.
+
+## Contact the maintainers
+
+For any questions or concerns not addressed here, please email
+[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).