Quantum Engineering Workshops
2021:
Link to the workshop flyer 2021
Recording of the workshop 2021: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3PMLmu4mEU
2022:
For the detailed program flyer please click here (2022)
Recording of the Workshop 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYwZexenI-Q&t=12578s
2023:
For the Workshop Flyer (2023) with the Program Details, Click Here
For the Video of the recording of the workshop (see the timestamps for each talk on the YouTube link), Click here
2024:
Link: Register here
Quantum Engineering Workshops 2021
Quantum Engineering Workshop: Theory & Practice - Pushing the engineering boundaries beyond existing techniques
Wed, May 26, 2021
8:30 AM – 5:30 PM PDT
Link to the workshop flyer
Registration link
Recording of the workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3PMLmu4mEU
The webinar link will be sent to the registered participants by email.
8:30am–8:40am - Opening
Keynote talks:
8:40–9:00
Prof. Morteza Gharib, CAST, Caltech
“Introduction to CAST”
9:00–9:30
Dr. Marco Quadrelli, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech
“JPL Robotics and related applications”
9:30–10:00
Prof. Alan Willner, University of Southern California
"Free-Space Quantum Communication Links using Orbital-Angular-Momentum Encoding"
10:00–10:30
Prof. Paul Kwiat, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
"Quantum-enhanced and quantum-inspired metrology: Engineering more precise measurements"
10:30–11:00
Break
11:00–11:30
Prof. William D. Oliver, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Quantum Engineering of Superconducting Qubits”
11:30-12:00
Prof. Alexander Lvovsky, Oxford University
“Optics and machine learning as symbionts”
Invited talks:
12:30-13:00
Dr. Clarice D. Aiello, UCLA
“Quantum Sensing/Communications”
13:00–14:00
Prof. Enrique (Kiko) Galvez, Colgate University
“Photon quantum mechanics and education”
14:00–15:00
Dr. Alan L. Migdall, National Institute of Standards and Technology
“multiplexed single photon sources, metrology using photon statistics”
15:00–15:30
TBA, US Air Force, tentative
15:30–16:30
Doug Finke, Quantum Computing Report
“A Tour Through the Quantum Ecosystem”
16:30–17:30
Q&A
The webinar zoom link: will be sent by email.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud
farbodk@caltech.edu
Speakers:
Professor Morteza (Mory) Gharib
Mory Gharib is Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering; Booth-Kresa Leadership Chair, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies; Director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories; Director, Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies.
He received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tehran University (1975) and his M.S. 1978, in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University and his Ph.D.1983, in Aeronautics from Caltech. He joined the faculty of the Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Department at UCSD in 1985. In 1993, he joined Caltech as a professor of Aeronautics. Currently, he is director of Graduate Aerospace Laboratory (GALCIT).
Professor Gharib’s current research interests in conventional fluid dynamics and aeronautics include Vortex dynamics, active and passive flow control, nano/micro fluid dynamics, autonomous flight, and underwater systems, as well as advanced flow-imaging diagnostics.
His biomechanics and medical engineering research activities can be categorized in two areas:
1. fluid dynamics of physiological machines such as the human cardiovascular system and ophthalmology as well as aquatic-breathing/propulsion
2. development of medical devices such as heart valves, cardiovascular and human eye health monitoring, and drug delivery systems.
Dr. Gharib’s honors and affiliations include Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Member, National Academy of Engineering; Charter Fellow, National Academy of Inventors; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow, American Physical Society; Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineering; Fellow, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering. He has received the G.I. Taylor Medal from the Society of Engineering Sciences, The Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society and five new technology recognition awards from NASA in the fields of advanced laser imaging and nanotechnology. In 2008 he received R&D Magazine’s “R&D 100 innovation award” for one of the best inventions of the year for his 3-D imaging camera system. Additionally, Dr. Gharib has published more than 250 papers in refereed journal and has been issued 116 U.S. Patents.
Talk: Introduction to the “Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST)
The Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies promotes interdisciplinary research and exchange of ideas in the expanding areas of autonomous systems. It serves as an arena for ideas to translate Into reality and be demonstrated to academic and industrial researchers and the general public through educational outreach.
Dr. Marco B. Quadrelli
Dr. Quadrelli is a principal research technologist and the supervisor of the Robotics Modeling and Simulation Group in the Robotics Section at JPL. He is an expert in modeling for dynamics and control of complex space systems. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Padova (Italy), a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. He was a visiting scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, at the Institute for Paper Science and Technology, and a lecturer at the Caltech Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories. After joining NASA JPL in 1997 he has contributed to a number of flight projects including the Cassini-Huygens Probe, Deep Space One, the Mars Aerobot Test Program, the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Space Interferometry Mission, the Autonomous Rendezvous Experiment, and the Mars Science Laboratory, among others. He has been the Attitude Control lead of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Project, and the Integrated Modeling Task Manager for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. He has led or participated in several independent research and development projects in the areas of computational micromechanics, dynamics and control of tethered space systems, formation flying, inflatable apertures, hypersonic entry, precision landing, flexible multibody dynamics, guidance, navigation and control of spacecraft swarms, terra-mechanics, and precision pointing for optical systems. His current research interests are in the areas of multi-domain, multi-physics, multi-body, multi-scale physics-based modeling, dynamics and control. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts Fellow, and a Caltech/Keck Institute for Space Studies Fellow.
Dr. Marco B. Quadrelli's Talk: Robotic Space Exploration and Possible Areas of Applications of Quantum Engineering
In this talk, Dr. Quadrelli will present an overview of robotic systems for planetary exploration being developed at JPL, the trends driving the current developments in planetary robotics, some of the technical challenges involved, and some of his personal thoughts on possible applications of quantum-related technologies in this area.
Prof. Alan Willner
Prof. Alan Willner received the Ph.D. (1988) in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, as well as a B.A. (1982) in Physics and an Honorary Degree (Honoris Causa, 2012) from Yeshiva University. Prof. Willner was a Postdoctoral Member of the Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories and a Member of Technical Staff at Bellcore. He is currently the Steven and Kathryn Sample Chaired Professor in Engineering in the Ming Hsieh Dept. of Electrical Engineering of the Viterbi School of Engineering at the Univ. of Southern California. Prof. Willner has been: a Visiting Professor at Columbia University, the Univ. College London, and the Weizmann Institute of Science; and a Visiting Scholar at Yeshiva University. He is a Member of the U.S. Army Science Board, was a Member of the Defense Sciences Research Council (a 16-member body that provided reports to the DARPA Director and Office Directors), has served on many scientific advisory boards for small companies, and has advised several venture capital firms. Additionally, Prof. Willner was Founder and CTO of Phaethon Communications, a company whose technology was acquired by Teraxion, that created the ClearSpectrum® dispersion compensator product line which is presently deployed in many commercial 40-Gbit/s systems worldwide.Prof. Willner's professional activities have included: Co-Chair of the U.S. National Academies Committee on the Optics and Photonics Study, President of The Optical Society (OSA), President of the IEEE Photonics Society (formerly LEOS), Co-Chair of the Science & Engineering Council of the OSA, Vice-President for Technical Affairs of the IEEE Photonics Society, Photonics Division Chair of OSA, Chair of the IEEE TAB Ethics and Member Conduct Committee, General & Program Co-Chair of the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), Program Co-Chair of the OSA Annual Meeting, General Chair of the IEEE LEOS Annual Meeting, Program Chair of Telecommunications Engineering at SPIE's Photonics West, Chair of the Unclassified Technical Program for IEEE MILCOM, Elected Member of the Board of Governors for the IEEE Photonics Society, General Co-Chair of the IEEE Photonics Society Topical Meeting on Broadband Networks, Steering Committee and Technical Committee Member of the Conference on Optical Fiber Communications (OFC), and Member of the US Advisory Committee for Int'l Commission for Optics (activity of the National Academies, IEEE, OSA and SPIE). Prof. Willner was an invited foreign dignitary representing the sciences for the 2009 Nobel Prize Ceremonies in Stockholm.Prof. Willner's editorial positions have included: Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology (JLT), Editor-in-Chief of OSA Optics Letters, Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Selected Areas in Communications Series on Optical Networks (now IEEE/OSA JOCN), Guest Editor of JLT and JSAC for the Joint Special Issue on Multiple-Wavelength Technologies & Networks, and Guest Editor of IEEE J. of Quantum Electronics Focus Issue on High-Capacity Optical Transmission Systems.Prof. Willner has >1450 publications, including one book, 10 edited books, ~38 U.S. patents, ~45 keynotes/plenaries, ~23 book chapters, >400 refereed journal papers, and >300 invited papers/presentations. His research is in optical technologies, including: communications, signal processing, networks, and subsystems.
Talk: Free-Space Quantum Communication Links using Orbital-Angular-Momentum Encoding
A photon or beam can carry different amounts of orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) if its phasefront twists in a helical fashion as it propagates, and the amount of OAM corresponds to the number of 2*pi phase shifts that occur in the azimuthal direction. Each OAM state is orthogonal to other states, and such states can be efficiently multiplexed, transmitted, and demultiplexed with little inherent modal crosstalk.
Common quantum communication systems encode a qubit on the two orthogonal polarization states. This means an alphabet of 2 and tends to limits data capacity to a single bit per photon. However, since OAM can take on many more orthogonal values than can polarization, the OAM alphabet might provide higher photon efficiency and performance in a quantum system. The number of bits per photon becomes log2N, with N being the number of available OAM-modal states; this is similar to the benefits of N-ary over binary data encoding.
In such an encoding system, a possible transmitter would take each single photon and systematically place it on one of N possible OAM states. A possible receiver would capture each photon and then route it to one of N different single-photon detectors. Interestingly, certain approaches that have mitigated impairments for classical channels may also help alleviate problems in quantum channels. For example, adaptive optics can help mitigate turbulence for a quantum channel by providing an inverse modal coupling function at the receiver.
Professor Paul G. Kwiat
Paul G. Kwiat is the Bardeen Chair in Physics, at the University of Illinois, in Urbana-Champaign, and is the inaugural Director of the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST). A Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America, he has given invited talks at numerous national and international conferences, and has authored over 160 articles on various topics in quantum optics and quantum information, including several review articles. His research focuses on optical implementations of quantum information protocols, particularly using entangled—and hyperentangled—photons from parametric down-conversion. He received the Optical Society of America 2009 R. W. Wood Prize, as the primary inventor of the world’s first sources of polarization-entangled photons from down-conversion, which have been used for quantum cryptography, dense-coding, quantum teleportation, quantum metrology, and realizing optical quantum gates. He has also done pioneering work on high-efficiency single-photon detectors, frequency-upconversion-based detection, and high-speed quantum random number generation.
Professor Paul Kwiat's Talk: Quantum-enhanced and quantum-inspired metrology: Engineering more precise measurements
It is now well established that the use of entangled quantum states can in some cases lead to sqrt(N) enhancements in the precision of quantum-limited measurements. Here we discuss two examples — based on recycled quantum weak measurements and on frequency non-degenerate two-photon interference — which demonstrate metrological benefits of a different sort, including robustness to systematic noise in one case and noise and loss in the other.
Professor William D. Oliver
William D. Oliver is jointly appointed Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Lincoln Laboratory Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He serves as the Director of the Center for Quantum Engineering and as Associate Director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics. Will’s research interests include the materials growth, fabrication, design, and measurement of superconducting qubits, as well as the development of cryogenic packaging and control electronics.Will is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Senior Member of the IEEE, and is appointed to the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. He also serves on the US Committee for Superconducting Electronics and is an IEEE Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC) Board Member. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Stanford University in 2003.
William D. Oliver’s talk: Quantum Engineering of Superconducting Qubits
Superconducting qubits are coherent artificial atoms assembled from electrical circuit elements and microwave optical components. Their lithographic scalability, compatibility with microwave control, and operability at nanosecond time scales all converge to make the superconducting qubit a highly attractive candidate for the constituent logical elements of a quantum information processor. Over the past decade, spectacular improvements in the manufacturing and control of these devices have moved the superconducting qubit modality from the realm of scientific curiosity to the threshold of technical reality. In this talk, we present the progress, challenges, and opportunities ahead in the engineering larger scale processors.
Professor Alexander Lvovsky
Alexander Lvovsky is an experimental physicist. He was born and raised in Moscow and did his undergraduate in Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. In 1993, he became a graduate student in Physics at Columbia University in New York City. His thesis research, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Sven R. Hartmann, was in the field of coherent optical transients in atomic gases. After completing his Ph. D. in 1998, he spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physics, and then five years at Universität Konstanz in Germany, first as an Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, then as a research group leader in quantum-optical information technology. In 2004 he became Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Calgary, and from autumn 2018, a professor at the University of Oxford. Alexander has also been a part of the team that created the Russian Quantum Center, and, since 2013, he has been working there as a part-time research group leader. Alexander is a past Canada Research Chair, a lifetime member of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the Optical Society and a winner of many awards – most notably the International Quantum Communications award, commendation letter from the Prime Minister of Canada and the Emmy Noether research award of the German Science Foundation. His research has been featured by CBC, NBC, Wired, New Scientist, MIT Technology Review, TASS, Daily Mail, and other media.
Professor Alexander Lvovsky's abstract of the talk:
Optics and machine learning are natural symbionts. I will present three examples of how these fields can benefit each other based on our recent experimental work:
· optical neural networks and their all-optical training;
· robotic alignment of optical experiments;
· application of machine learning in linear-optical far-field superresolution imaging.
Dr. Clarice D. Aiello
Dr. Clarice D. Aiello is a quantum engineer interested in how quantum physics informs biology at the nanoscale. She is an expert on nanosensors harnessing room-temperature quantum effects in noisy environments. Aiello received her Ph.D. from MIT in Electrical Engineering and held postdoctoral appointments in Bioengineering at Stanford, and in Chemistry at Berkeley. She joined UCLA in 2019, where she leads the Quantum Biology Tech (QuBiT) Lab.
Abstract of the talk: From nanotech to living sensors
unraveling the spin physics of biosensing at the nanoscale Substantial in vitro and physiological experimental results suggest that similar coherent spin physics might underlie phenomena as varied as the biosensing of magnetic fields in animal navigation and the magnetosensitivity of metabolic reactions related to oxidative stress in cells. If this is correct, organisms might behave, for a short time, as “living quantum sensors” and might be studied and controlled using quantum sensing techniques developed for technological sensors. I will outline our approach towards performing coherent quantum measurements and control on proteins, cells and organisms in order to understand how they interact with their environment, and how physiology is regulated by such interactions. Can coherent spin physics be established – or refuted! – to account for physiologically relevant biosensing phenomena, and be manipulated to technological and therapeutic advantage?
Professor Enrique J. Galvez -- Short Professional Bio
Professor Galvez obtained a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1986. He has been member of the faculty at Colgate University since 1988—currently the Charles A. Dana Professor of Physics and Astronomy. His research interests include atomic and optical physics and physics education. Recent research projects include studies of light in complex scalar and vector modes, and photon entanglement.
Educational projects include modernizing the introductory physics curriculum and the development new laboratories to teach about light and quantum mechanics. He is a Fellow of OSA and has received two APS awards.
Talk: Photon Quantum Mechanics and Education
Technological advances in the production and detection of single photons has opened new opportunities for teaching the fundamentals of quantum mechanics via hands-on laboratories. The rise of quantum information has only underscored the need for students to confront the counter intuitive aspects of quantum physics and their contrast with classical physics. The future workforce needs to understand these concepts deeply along with the quantum formalism and statistics. Photon laboratories provide a platform for understanding both the fundamental concepts and their application to physical systems.
Dr. Alan Migdall
Dr. Migdall's current interests broadly cover quantum optics with research related to single-photon sources, detectors, processors, and quantum memory for quantum cryptography and quantum computation. Specific efforts involve correlated two-photon light (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MaOqvnkBxk), nonlinear optics, parametric downconversion, Raman scattering, microstructure fibers, multi-particle entanglement, randomness generation (http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/ct/nist_beacon.cfm), and classical and quantum metrology.
Migdall leads the Quantum Optics Group of the Quantum Measurement Division at NIST. He is a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He has organized a number of conferences and workshops on single photon detector and source technologies, as well as the applications and metrology of that technology. He founded the Single Photon Workshop, which debuted at NIST in Gaithersburg in 2003 and has continued biannually at metrology and national labs in the US and around the world. He was editor of a book entitled Single Photon Generation and Detection.
Migdall has been part of a number of science outreach efforts including the OSA Eastman/Presidential Speaker program, giving lectures at numerous universities and colleges, as well as local high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. He has provided research opportunities for graduate, undergraduate, and high school students. In addition, he was the science advisor for a National Academy of Sciences middle school optics curriculum program.
Migdall began his career at NIST with an NRC postdoctoral fellowship in laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms, was made a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2007, awarded a NIST Bronze medal in 2009 for his efforts in single photon technology, in 2013 and 2015 awarded patents related to single photon technology, and in 2016 was part of the team that was awarded a Commerce Dept. Gold medal for the long-sought goal of achieving a very strong test rejecting local realistic models as possible alternatives to quantum mechanics.
Dr. A. L. Migdall - Talk, Part I:
The Quantum Age - Measurements: For all time, For all people
Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland & National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Measurement is arguably the basis of all civilization. We are born into this world measuring our environment and trying to understand it and we continue measuring for the rest of our lives. All of our measurements should rely on standards that ideally are accurate, unchanging, and universally defined. While such a solid foundation for our measurement systems has been dream since before the time of the French Revolution, it is only with the dawn of the quantum age that it could be realized. As a result, humankind just recently achieved an advance that goes beyond the level of a once-in-a-lifetime event, it achieved an advance that, hopefully, is just a once-on-a-planet event. I hope to convey the momentousness of what just occurred.
Dr. A. L. Migdall - Talk, Part II:
Multiplexing: A path to an ideal single-photon source
Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland & National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USASingle-photon sources, inherently nonclassical in their nature, are quite distinct from the light sources of a century ago. And since the first efforts at nonclassical sources of light a half century ago, significant progress has been made. Now, sources that produce photons in pairs, allowing for the heralding of a single photon, are the workhorse of a wide array of applications, from tests of fundamental physics to metrology, and even to biological microscopy. Single-photon sources built from processes that generate photons in pairs rely on either spontaneous parametric down-conversion or spontaneous four-wave mixing and can now achieve production rates of millions of heralded single photons per second in controlled states, with tailored spectral properties and near-perfect spatial modes. However, because these nonlinear optical processes are inherently probabilistic, they cannot simultaneously achieve a high probability of producing a photon and a high single-photon fidelity. This inherent tradeoff can be a severe constraint in many applications.
The multiplexing of many of these probabilistic single-photon sources offers a path to overcoming this tradeoff. By having many low-probability-of-generation, but high-fidelity heralded single-photon sources, it is possible to create a system that boosts the probability of successfully generating an output, while retaining high single-photon fidelity. Multiplexing of such sources is achieved through the use of time, space, and/or frequency to parallelize the spontaneous photon creation, then actively switch the photons into a single mode or actively switch the pumping laser based on feedback from heralding detection events.
We review some of the history and recent exponential progress in this exciting field. From a few theoretical proposals around the beginning of this millennia, the field has sharply grown: numerous distinct multiplexing schemes have been proposed, with many experiments realized in just the past few years, a rate which is strongly increasing. It seems likely that through the use of source multiplexing, one can expect that ten-photon states at rates of 103 /s are within immediate reach, and 50 photons, enough for a conclusive quantum advantage over classical computers, are no longer a pipe dream.
Doug Finke
Doug Finke is Managing Editor of the Quantum Computing Report which he founded in 2015 so he could apply his wide breadth of experience to help accelerate the proliferation of quantum computing to the general marketplace. He started his career as a mainframe computer design engineer at IBM and subsequently served in a variety of executive roles in marketing, engineering, and operations at Intel, Western Digital, Corning, and several startup companies. Doug holds degrees in computer engineering and management from the University of Illinois and MIT respectively.
Abstract of the talk: A Tour Through the Quantum Ecosystem
The presentation would show all the different industry players and how they can work together to provide a complete solution to an end user. It shows a model for the complete solution stack from User Community down to the chip of what is needed to make quantum computing a reality.
Organizer: Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud
Contact: farbodk@caltech.edu
Farbod Khoshnoud, PhD, PGCE, CEng, M.IMechE, M.ASME, HEA Fellow, is a faculty member in Electromechanical Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. His current research areas include Self-powered Dynamic Systems, Nature/Biologically Inspired Dynamic Systems, and Quantum Entanglement and Quantum Cryptography for Multibody Dynamics, Robotics, Controls, and Autonomy applications. He is a visiting associate in the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies in the Aerospace Engineering Department at California Institute of Technology. He was a research affiliate in the Mobility and Robotic Systems section at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech in 2019; an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at California State University, USA; a visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, in 2017; a Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brunel University London, UK, 2014-16; a senior lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, 2011-2014; a visiting scientist and postdoctoral researcher in the Industrial Automation Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at UBC, Vancouver, 2007-2012; a visiting researcher at California Institute of Technology, USA, 2009-2011; and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering at UBC, 2005-2007. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Brunel University in 2005. He has worked in industry as a mechanical engineer for over six years. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Mechatronic Systems and Control (formerly Control and Intelligent Systems); and the editor of the Quantum Engineering special issue of the Journal of Mechatronic Systems and Control.
Quantum Engineering Workshop 2022
Quantum Engineering Workshop 2022
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/quantum-engineering-workshop-2022-tickets-313181443127
For the detailed program flyer please click here
This is the second workshop in quantum engineering. The quantum engineering workshop aims to bring the engineering and physics experts together and promote and explore the interface of classical engineering (such as mechatronics, instrumentation and robotics) and quantum mechanics (such as the applications of quantum entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation).
Quantum Engineering Workshop 2022
May 25, 2022 (Online event - the webinar link will be emailed to the participants closer to the event)
Quantum Engineering Workshop brings classical engineering and quantum mechanics together to explore the opportunities at the interface.
This page is regularly updated for the Quantum Engineering Workshop 2022 (Please visit again for the updates)
This is the second workshop in quantum engineering. The quantum engineering workshop aims to bring engineering and physics experts together to promote the integration of the emerging areas as a cross disciplinary educational and research effort, and explore the interface of classical engineering (such as mechatronics, instrumentation and robotics) and quantum mechanics (such as the applications of quantum entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation).
Quantum Engineering Workshop 2022
Sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
(Journal of Autonomous Vehicles and Systems).
May 25, 2022 (Online/Virtual event - the webinar link will be emailed to the participants closer to the event)
Wednesday, May 25th (Pacific Time Zone)
8:30 am - 8:40 am - Opening welcome
8:40 am - 9:30 am; Dr. Marco Quadrelli, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
9:30 am - 10:00 am; Prof. Prem Kumar, ECE and Physics, Northwestern University
10:00 am - 11:00 am; Prof. Steven M. Girvin, Yale University
11:00 am - 11:30 am; Prof. Edoardo Charbon, Advanced Quantum Architecture Lab (AQUA), EPFL
11:30 am - 12:00 pm; Dr. Kathy-Anne Brickman Soderberg, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm; Break
12:30 am - 1:00 pm; Prof. Tryphon Georgiou, UC Irvine
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm; Dr. Clarice D. Aiello, UCLA
1:30 pm - 2:00 pm; Prof. Britton Plourde, Syracuse University
2:00 pm - 2:30 pm; Break
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm; Dr. Alexey Gorshkov, University of Maryland
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm; Dr. Joshua C. Bienfang; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm; Dr. Neil Zimmerman, NIST
4:00 pm - 4:30 pm; Dr. Thomas Gerrits, NIST
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm; Dr. Aditya N. Sharma; NIST
5:30 pm - 6:00 pm; Discussions
Program details:
Dr. Quadrelli is a principal research technologist and the supervisor of the Robotics Modeling and Simulation Group in the Robotics Section at JPL. He is an expert in modeling for dynamics and control of complex space systems. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Padova (Italy), a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. He was a visiting scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, at the Institute for Paper Science and Technology, and a lecturer at the Caltech Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories. After joining NASA JPL in 1997 he has contributed to a number of flight projects including the Cassini-Huygens Probe, Deep Space One, the Mars Aerobot Test Program, the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Space Interferometry Mission, the Autonomous Rendezvous Experiment, and the Mars Science Laboratory, among others. He has been the Attitude Control lead of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Project, and the Integrated Modeling Task Manager for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. He has led or participated in several independent research and development projects in the areas of computational micromechanics, dynamics and control of tethered space systems, formation flying, inflatable apertures, hypersonic entry, precision landing, flexible multibody dynamics, guidance, navigation and control of spacecraft swarms, terra-mechanics, and precision pointing for optical systems. His current research interests are in the areas of multi-domain, multi-physics, multi-body, multi-scale physics-based modeling, dynamics and control. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts Fellow, and a Caltech/Keck Institute for Space Studies Fellow.
Talk: Exploring the Intersection between Robotic Space Exploration and Quantum Technology
Abstract: In this talk, Dr. Quadrelli will present an overview of robotic systems for planetary exploration being developed at JPL, the trends driving the current developments in planetary robotics, some of the technical challenges involved, and some of his personal thoughts on possible applications of quantum-related technologies in this area.
Prem Kumar is Professor of Information Technology in the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. His research focus is on quantum photonic devices and their applications: generation, distribution, and ultrafast processing of photonic entanglement for applications in quantum information networks; novel quantum light states for precision measurements, imaging, and sensing; and novel optical amplifiers and devices for networked optical communications. Ph.D. graduates from his research group (35 completed & 5 in progress) have gone on to build careers in academia, industry, and US national labs. His group has cumulatively published >500 research papers (Google Scholar h-index: 62). During 2013-2017, Dr. Kumar was a Program Manager at DARPA, where he created and managed a portfolio of programs in basic and applied sciences. He was selected Program Manager of the Year in 2015 and awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 2016. He is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA), APS, IEEE, IoP (U.K.), AAAS, and SPIE. He has been a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Photonics Society, Hermann A. Haus Lecturer at MIT, recipient of the Quantum Communication Award from Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan, and the Walder Research Excellence Award from the Provost’s office at Northwestern University. Since 2020 he is serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Optica (2020 Impact Factor: 11.1), the flagship journal of the Optica Publishing Group for high-impact results across the whole spectrum of optics and photonics, pure and applied.
Talk: Engineering Challenges for the Emerging Quantum Networks
Quantum internet of the future will require device functionalities that implicitly respect the fundamental facts such as quantum information cannot be copied, and cannot be measured precisely. A quantum repeater, for example,—analog of an optical amplifier that enabled global reach of the ubiquitous Internet connectivity we enjoy today—is yet to be demonstrated, although recent years have seen tremendous progress. Many other device functionalities—switches, routers, format converters, etc.—would also be needed that do not unnecessarily disturb or corrupt the quantum information as it flows from one node of the internet to another. In recent years, my group has engineered many quantum tools and techniques that fulfill the requirements for distributing quantum information in a networked environment. In this talk, I will present our motivation, design, construction, characterization, and utilization of some example techniques for near-term networked quantum applications.
Professor Steven M. Girvin
Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics, Yale University
Websites:
https://girvin.sites.yale.edu/
https://quantuminstitute.yale.edu/
https://www.bnl.gov/quantumcenter/
After graduating in a high school class of 5 students in the small village of Brant Lake, NY and completing his undergraduate degree in physics from Bates College, Dr. Girvin earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Princeton University in 1977.
Dr. Girvin joined the Yale faculty in 2001, where he is Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and Professor of Applied Physics. From 2007 to 2017 he served as Yale’s Deputy Provost for Research, overseeing strategic planning for research across Yale. From 2019 to 2021, he served as founding director of the Co-Design Center for Quantum Advantage, one of five national quantum information science research centers funded by the Department of Energy.
Along with his experimenter colleagues Michel Devoret and Robert Schoelkopf, Professor Girvin co-developed ‘circuit QED,’ the leading architecture for construction of quantum computers based on superconducting microwave circuits.
Dr. Girvin is a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Member of the US National Academy of Sciences. In 2007, he and his collaborators, Allan H. MacDonald and James P. Eisenstein were awarded the Oliver E. Buckley Prize of the American Physical Society for their work on the fractional quantum Hall effect. In 2019, he and coauthor Kun Yang published the textbook “Modern Condensed Matter Physics” with Cambridge University Press.
Talk: Progress and Prospects for the Second Quantum Revolution
Department of Physics & Yale Quantum Institute
Yale University
and
Co-Design Center for Quantum Advantage
Brookhaven National Laboratory
The first quantum revolution brought us the great technological advances of the 20th century—the transistor, the laser, the atomic clock and GPS, the global positioning system. A ‘second quantum revolution’ is now underway based on our relatively new understanding of how information can be stored, manipulated and communicated using strange quantum hardware that is neither fully digital nor fully analog. We now realize that 20th century hardware does not take advantage of the full power of quantum machines. This talk will give a gentle introduction to the basic concepts that underlie this quantum information revolution and describe recent remarkable experimental progress in the race to build quantum machines for computing, sensing and communication.
Professor Edoardo Charbon
Edoardo Charbon (SM’00 F’17) received the Diploma from ETH Zurich, the M.S. from the University of California at San Diego, and the Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1988, 1991, and 1995, respectively, all in electrical engineering and EECS. He has consulted with numerous organizations, including Bosch, X-Fab, Texas Instruments, Maxim, Sony, Agilent, and the Carlyle Group. He was with Cadence Design Systems from 1995 to 2000, where he was the Architect of the company's initiative on information hiding for intellectual property protection. In 2000, he joined Canesta Inc., as the Chief Architect, where he led the development of wireless 3-D CMOS image sensors. Since 2002 he has been a member of the faculty of EPFL. From 2008 to 2016 he was with Delft University of Technology’s as full professor and Chair of VLSI design. He has been the driving force behind the creation of deep-submicron CMOS SPAD technology, which is mass-produced since 2015 and is present in telemeters, proximity sensors, and medical diagnostics tools. His interests span from 3-D vision, LiDAR, FLIM, FCS, NIROT to super-resolution microscopy, time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, and cryo-CMOS circuits and systems for quantum computing. He has authored or co-authored over 400 papers and two books, and he holds 23 patents. Dr. Charbon is a distinguished visiting scholar of the W. M. Keck Institute for Space at Caltech, a fellow of the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Photonics Society, and a fellow of the IEEE.
Talk: On Cryo-CMOS Qubit Control: from a Wild Idea to Working Silicon
Abstract—The core of a quantum processor is generally an array of qubits that need to be controlled and read out by a classical processor. This processor operates on the qubits with nanosecond latency, several millions of times per second, with tight constraints on noise and power. This is due to the extremely weak signals involved in the process that require highly sensitive circuits and systems, along with very precise timing capability. We advocate the use of CMOS technologies to achieve these goals, whereas the circuits will be operated at deep-cryogenic temperatures. We believe that these circuits, collectively known as cryo-CMOS control, will make future qubit arrays scalable, enabling a faster growth in qubit count. In the lecture, the challenges of designing and operating complex circuits and systems at 4K and below will be outlined, along with preliminary results achieved in the control and read-out of qubits by ad hoc integrated circuits that were optimized to operate at low power in these conditions. The talk will conclude with a perspective on the field and its trends.
Dr. Kathy-Anne Brickman Soderberg
Dr. Kathy-Anne Brickman Soderberg is a Principal Research Scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate in Rome, NY. Dr. Soderberg is the primary investigator and team lead for AFRL’s Trapped-Ion Quantum Networking group. Dr. Soderberg received a B.S. in physics from the College of William and Mary, a M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago. Dr. Soderberg has over fifteen years of technical experience in atomic physics and quantum information processing. Her graduate work focused on trapped-ion quantum computing research and included key demonstrations of phonon-mediated entangling gates and proof-of-principle quantum algorithms (the Grover search algorithm). Her postdoctoral work focused on novel neutral-atom quantum computing and the difficulties associated with targeted atomic interactions and optical lattice translation and control. Before joining AFRL, Dr. Soderberg was a technical consultant for quantum information science.
Talk: Quantum Networking at AFRL
Abstract: Effective and efficient ways to connect disparate qubit technologies is an outstanding challenge in quantum information science. However, the ability to interface different qubit modalities will have far-reaching implications for quantum computing and quantum networking. Here we present plans and progress toward developing a distributed quantum networking testbed to distribute entanglement between trapped ion, superconducting, and integrated photonic qubits.
Professor Tryphon Georgiou
University of California, Irvine
Tryphon T. Georgiou was educated at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and the University of Florida, Gainesville (PhD 1983). He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, where he held the Hermes-Luh Chair (2002-2016) and served as co-director of the Control Science and Dynamical Systems Center (1990-2016). Dr. Georgiou is a Fellow of the IEEE, SIAM, IFAC, and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA).
Talk: Density transport and the Lindblad equation
Abstract: A celebrated result by Jordan, Kinderlehrer and Otto, in 1998, expressed the Fokker-Planck equation as a gradient flow of the Shannon entropy with respect to a metric on probability laws induced by optimal mass transport. We will discuss extensions of the formalism of optimal mass transport to the non-commutative setting that aims at quantum density matrices. It allows defining suitable optimal transport geometries. For a specific choice and the corresponding metric on density functions, the Lindblad equation of open quantum systems (quantum diffusion) can be expressed as gradient flow of the von Neumann quantum entropy, generalizing the Jordan etal. result.
Joint work with Yongxin Chen (GaTech) Wilfrid Gangbo (UCLA) and A. Tannenbaum (Stony Brook)
Prof. Clarice D. Aiello is a quantum engineer interested in how quantum physics informs biology at the nanoscale. She is an expert on nanosensors harnessing room-temperature quantum effects in noisy environments. Aiello received her Ph.D. from MIT in Electrical Engineering and held postdoctoral appointments in Bioengineering at Stanford, and in Chemistry at Berkeley. She joined UCLA in 2019, where she leads the Quantum Biology Tech (QuBiT) Lab.
Talk: From nanotech to living sensors:
unraveling the spin physics of biosensing at the nanoscale
Substantial in vitro and physiological experimental results suggest that similar coherent spin physics might underlie phenomena as varied as the biosensing of magnetic fields in animal navigation and the magnetosensitivity of metabolic reactions related to oxidative stress in cells. If this is correct, organisms might behave, for a short time, as “living quantum sensors” and might be studied and controlled using quantum sensing techniques developed for technological sensors. I will outline our approach towards performing coherent quantum measurements and control on proteins, cells and organisms in order to understand how they interact with their environment, and how physiology is regulated by such interactions. Can coherent spin physics be established – or refuted! – to account for physiologically relevant biosensing phenomena, and be manipulated to technological and therapeutic advantage?
Professor Britton Plourde
Britton Plourde is a Professor of Physics at Syracuse University where he runs a low-temperature research lab focused on the design, fabrication, and measurement of superconducting circuits for quantum information processing. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000, then worked on superconducting flux qubit experiments as a postdoc with John Clarke at UC Berkeley until 2005, at which time he joined the faculty at Syracuse. Some of his many contributions to the field include investigations of decoherence mechanisms related to trapped vortices and quasiparticles, parametric driving schemes for coupling qubits and resonant modes, and digital coherent control and readout of superconducting qubits. He received an NSF CAREER Award and the IBM Faculty Award. From 2013-2019 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, and from 2021-2022 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering.
Talk: Protecting Superconducting Qubits from Environmental Poisoning
Superconducting circuits are an attractive system for forming qubits in a quantum computer because of the natural energy gap to excitations in the superconductor. However, experimentally it is observed that superconducting qubits have excitations above the superconducting ground state, known as quasiparticles, at a density that is many orders of magnitude above the expected equilibrium level. These quasiparticles are dissipative and can directly impact qubit coherence; in some cases, quasiparticle poisoning bursts can lead to correlated errors between qubits across an array, a process that is fatal to quantum error correction schemes. Quasiparticles can be generated by a range of energy-deposition sources, including photons from the qubit environment with energy above the superconducting gap, or the impact of high-energy particles from background radioactivity or cosmic ray muons. I will give an overview of these various quasiparticle poisoning mechanisms and describe some recent experiments in my lab to study correlated quasiparticle poisoning in multiqubit chips. In this case, the correlations are due to energetic phonons traveling through the device substrate. We have implemented a technique for using thick normal-metal reservoirs on the back-side of the qubit chip for downconverting these phonons to energies below the superconducting gap. We demonstrate a decrease in the flux of poisoning phonons by more than a factor of 20 and a two order-of-magnitude reduction in correlated poisoning due to ambient radiation. This approach reduces correlated errors due to background radiation below the level necessary for fault-tolerant operation of a multiqubit array.
Alexey Gorshkov received his A.B. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard in 2004 and 2010, respectively. In 2013, after three years as a Lee A. DuBridge Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech, he became a staff physicist at NIST. At the same time, he started his own research group at the University of Maryland, where he is a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and of the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science. His theoretical research is at the interface of quantum optics, atomic physics, condensed matter physics, and quantum information science. Applications of his research include quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensing. He is a recipient of the 2020 Arthur S. Flemming Award, the 2020 APS Fellowship, the 2019 PECASE, and the 2018 IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in AMO Physics.
Talk: Quantum Sensor Networks
Entangling quantum sensors, such as magnetometers or interferometers, can dramatically increase their sensitivity. In this talk, we will discuss how entanglement in a network of quantum sensors can be used to accurately measure one or more properties of spatially varying fields and how to do such measurements with a minimal use of entanglement.
Dr. Bienfang is a physicist in the Quantum Optics Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He began his post-graduate research on high-speed quantum key distribution in 2003, research that lead to research on high-performance single-photon detection systems, detector characterization techniques, and the investigation of other quantum communications protocols. He was part of the 2015 NIST team to conduct a loophole-free Bell test, and he continues to focus on detector development and quantum networks.
Talk: "Single-photon detection systems for advanced photon counting"
Abstract: Single-photon detectors provide a critical bridge from the quantum to the classical domains, and while they are often identified by a single element (e.g. a nanowire or an avalanche diode), they operate in a control and readout system that often has a major impact on the detector's performance. I will discuss readout an control systems for both single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) and large-format superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) arrays. I will discuss our use of RF interferometry to bias and readout SPADs that has lead to an increase in single-photon count rates in Si SPADs of a factor of 10, and a significant reduction in noise in gated InGaAs/InP SPADs. For mega-pixel scale SNSPD arrays I will present recent advances in superconducting-electronics-based systems for accumulating counts at the sensor for later readout.
Neil Zimmerman received a Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1989; he worked as a postdoc at Bell Labs Murray Hill, and since 1994 has been working at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, USA. His main research topics have been single-electron transport in metal and semiconducting quantum dots, and he is now starting up a collaboration on combining single-electron with single-photon physics. The main goals of this work are i) electrical and optical metrology and ii) quantum coherent phenomena including QIST. He also has a role as the Coordinator of the Quantum Network Grand Challenge at NIST.
Talk: “Challenges of Distributing Entanglement over a Quantum Network”
Abstract: Using the definition that a quantum network is one that can distribute entanglement between stationary qubits, I will discuss the major technical and scientific challenges facing the community. It is likely that Workshop attenders are familiar with many of the technical challenges, and I will review them – switches, fiber attenuation/distortion/Raman scattering, deterministic sources, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs), . As part of my presentation, I would also like to have a focused discussion about what I see as the biggest scientific (or perhaps programmatic) challenge: What is the “killer app” for a Quantum Network or a Quantum Internet? Please come prepared to give your thoughts on this!
Thomas Gerrits is a Physicist in the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he is developing widgets, methods and protocols for the characterization of future quantum network components. His research interests include the generation of exotic quantum states of light, optical quantum metrology, development of measurement tools for quantum and classical optics and single photon imaging.
Talk: Optical Quantum Metrology – from component characterization to quantum network metrology
Abstract: In classical optical communication systems, the development of improved measurements, telemetry, emulation, and control protocols has ensured the success of each new generation of commercial deployment. Quantum network technology remains in the research and development phase, with a wide range of approaches and techniques being pursued. However, it is essential that robust quantum metrology protocols and procedures be established to implement the consistent telemetry needed to ensure seamless integration of these technologies. In addition, metrics, and measurement methods to characterize quantum network components and the interaction between classical and quantum networks will be necessary. All the above involve the verifiable dissemination of quantum information, including entanglement, and by far the most promising method for entanglement distribution is with the use of optical photons. Establishing standardized metrology procedures and tools to characterize quantum information carried by photons through complex heterogeneous networks of quantum systems and to further the development of network components will be necessary. I will present our efforts towards the metrology of quantum networks and review some of the metrology tools already developed in our labs for quantum component and quantum network characterization.
Talk: Precision-enhanced displacement measurements using correlated photon pairs
Split detection is a standard experimental scheme for measuring positional displacements. In a typical setup, a laser beam is reflected from the object being probed and then sent to a photodetector that is split into left (L) and right (R) halves: the normalized difference signal (R-L)/(R+L) is then proportional to the object’s horizontal displacement. The maximum precision achievable using this method is limited by the inverse of the beam width. In this talk, I will present our experimental demonstration of a proposal to evade this limitation using split detection of correlated photon pairs. The techniques discussed here may prove useful in measurement scenarios requiring high sensitivity at low light intensity.
Quantum Engineering Workshop 2023
This page is updated regularly, Please visit again for the program updates
For the Workshop Flyer with the Program Details, Click Here
For the Video of the recording of the workshop (see the timestamps for each talk on the youtube link), Click here
Registration Link
This page is updated regularly, Please visit again for the program updates
This is a Hybrid event:
The virtual attendance link: Will be announced to the attendees who register for the workshop
The in-person location: Please contact Dr. Farbod Khoshnoud at: farbodk@caltech.edu for in-person reservations at Caltech
This is the third annual workshop in quantum engineering.
The quantum engineering workshop aims to bring engineering and physics experts together to promote the integration of the emerging areas as a cross disciplinary educational and research effort, and explore the interface of classical engineering (such as mechatronics, instrumentation and robotic technologies) and quantum mechanics (such as the applications of quantum entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation). In particular, we hope to promote quantum engineering to mechanical and aerospace engineers who are not traditionally exposed to quantum mechanics.
Supported by:
ASME, Journal of Autonomous Vehicles and Systems (JAVS),
and Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), Caltech
Contact/Questions: farbodk@caltech.edu
Quantum Systems theme:
-Professor Paolo Villoresi, University of Padova
The Space frontier for the quantum communications
-Professor Ivan Deutsch, University of New Mexico
Quantum Computing with Neutral Atoms
-Professor Mohammad Hafezi, University of Maryland
Many-body quantum optoelectronics
Materials and Photonics theme:
-Dr. Scott Cushing, Caltech
Exploration of How Entangled Photons Could Change Spectroscopy
-Dr. Hilary M. Hurst, San José State University
Quantum State Engineering through Weak Measurement
-Dr. Tongcang Li, Purdue University
Quantum Sensing and Photonics
-Dr. Chitraleema Chakraborty, University of Delaware
Flatland Quantum Materials
Robotic Applications theme:
-Andrew Phillip Conrad, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Quantum Communication Links between Mobile Platforms
-Chris Cantwell, Quantum Realm Games
Quantum games
-Dr. Marco Quadrelli, JPL, Caltech
Intersection between Robotic Space Exploration and Quantum Technology
Contact/Questions: farbodk@caltech.edu
Information about the distinguished speakers, and their talks:
-Professor Paolo Villoresi, University of Padova
QuantumFuture Research GroupPadua Quantum Technologies Research CenterDepartment of Information Engineering,
Paolo Villoresi is a Full Professor of Physics and Director of the Padua Quantum Technologies Research Center, both at the University of Padova. He studied Physics and Applied Mathematics at University of Padova, where he is permanent faculty since 1994. He proposed in 2002 and then realized the first single photon exchange with a satellite using the ASI-MLRO telescope in Matera. He founded a research group on Quantum Communication (QC) and Quantum Optics, that demonstrated the first QC in Space using orbiting retroreflectors, adopting polarization and temporal modes. His group also have shown the first use of OAM modes in QC, the generation of random numbers using DV and CV quantum processes at tens of Gbps, the study and mitigation of turbulence in free-space QC in the Canary Island links, as well the implementation of novel QKD protocols and of fundamental tests of Quantum Mechanics both in Space and in the Lab. The daylight free-space quantum QKD using integrated photonics circuits as well as QKD inter-modal networking are among QuantumFuture recent results.His past research topics include the Atomic Physics in the attosecond domain, multiphoton ionization, ultrafast optics in extreme ultraviolet and X-rays, often exploiting adaptive optics, exploiting also his 12 industrial patents and patent applications.He is also funder and President of ThinkQuantum, a spinoff of University of Padova introducing advanced QKD technologies for Space and ground networs.He is a Fellow of Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere e Arti.
Title of the talk:
The Space frontier for the quantum communications
Abstract:
As of today, QKD is the most advanced quantum technology, based on the sharing of single photons. QKD has now both a solid theoretical framework and widespread experimental implementation, even for commercial purposes, as the major European project OpenQKD has demonstrated QKD testbeds across Europe.The QKD extension to space is also envisaged in the European roadmap as well as in the ones of different continents. The addressing of the effective complementarity between ground and Space imposes challenging requirements to the space QC technology, mainly photonics, in particular where the high rate of key, the all-day availability and the long service time of operation are asked for the secure communications payloads.In this talk I’ll provide insight in the main scientific results and the technologies addressing the reduction of the qubit preparation errors, aiming at the realization of transmitter for high efficiency key-rate and the daylight QKD along free-space links.
-Professor Ivan Deutsch, University of New Mexico
Ivan Deutsch is Regents’ Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of New Mexico and the Director of the Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC), one of the longest standing centers for Quantum Information Science. He received his BS from MIT in 1987 and his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1992. After a short postdoc at France Telecom and a postdoc with Bill Phillips at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, he joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico in 1995, where, together with Carl Caves, he established CQuIC. His research interests lie at the intersection of quantum optics, atomic-molecular-optical physics, and quantum information theory, with expertise in quantum control, measurement, and open quantum systems.
Title of the talk:
Quantum Computing with Neutral Atoms
Abstract:
One of the earliest proposals for scalable quantum computers was to encode qubits in individual optically- trapped, ultracold neutral atoms. Like their more famous cousins, atomic ions, qubits encoded in the energy levels of neutral atoms are all identical, can have long coherence times, and can be controlled with a variety of magneto-optical fields, with tools that build on decades of development for atomic clocks and precision metrology. Unlike with ions, quantum computing architectures have proceeded more slowly, as neutral atoms are harder to trap and they only weakly interact in their ground state. New developments in trapping and laser technology has now opened the door to high-fidelity operation with potentially hundreds to thousands of qubits - neutral atoms are back in the game! In this seminar I will discuss how high-fidelity quantum logic can be implemented through coherent control of superpositions of atoms in ground and highly excited Rydberg states. I will also describe how optimal control can be used to implement a variety of protocols for quantum information processing with neutral atoms, including the performing quantum logic with “qudecimals" (d=10 dimensional systems) encoded in nuclear spins.
-Professor Mohammad Hafezi, University of Maryland
Mohammad Hafezi is the Minta Martin Professor with a joint appointment in the Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments at the University of Maryland and a fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute and Quantum Technology Center. He studied at Sharif University before completing his undergraduate degree at École Polytechnique. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2009. His research interests include quantum optics, topological physics, condensed matter, and quantum information sciences. He is the recipient of several awards including the Sloan Fellowship, the Young Investigator Award of the US Naval Research Office, and the Simons Foundation Investigator.
Title of the talk:
Many-body quantum optoelectronics
Abstract:
Given tremendous progress in controlling individual photons and other excitations such as spin, excitonic, phononic in solid-state systems, it is intriguing to explore whether these quantum optical control techniques could pave a radically new way to prepare, detect and manipulate non-local and correlated electronic states. After discussing several broad theoretical schemes, as the first experimental example, we report on optical and electrical tunable Bose-Fermi mixtures in hetero-bilayer systems and the observation of an excitonic Mott insulator. As the second experimental example, we report on the optical manipulation of quantum Hall states in graphene using twisted light. Specifically, we show that, by going beyond the dipole-approximation in light-matter interaction, one can optically manipulate the electronic wave function.
Materials and Photonics theme:
-Dr. Scott Cushing, Caltech
Scott Cushing is an Assistant Professor at Caltech with a multidisciplinary background spanning Chemistry, Materials Science, and Physics. His research focuses on the creation of new scientific instrumentation that can translate quantum phenomena to practical devices and applications. The Cushing lab is currently pioneering the use of attosecond x-ray, time-resolved TEM-EELS, and ultrafast beams of entangled photons for a range of microscopy and spectroscopy applications. Scott has been awarded DOE, AFOSR, Rose Hill, Cottrell, W.M. Keck, and ACS related Early Career awards. As of 2022, Scott has published over 60 papers that have been cited over 8,000 times. Scott holds multiple patents, some of which have led to start-up companies.
Title of the talk:
Exploration of How Entangled Photons Could Change Spectroscopy
Abstract:
The inherent quantum correlations between entangled photons can lead to intriguing changes in light-matter interactions for spectroscopy. While entanglement has been utilized for over a decade to improve signal to noise ratios and enable correlation measurements like ghost imaging, this talk will cover the less discussed and newer explorations into how entanglement changes photoexcited states and when, or if, this is useful. Predictions of independent temporal and spectral resolutions, linearizing two-photon and other nonlinear interactions, and the creation of non-classical excited states are experimentally tested. We will also discuss the technical advances that we have developed for experimentally feasible entangled photon spectroscopy, including high-brightness and purity sources, as well as progress towards on-chip entangled photon spectrometers.
-Dr. Hilary M. Hurst, San José State University
Dr. Hilary Hurst is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at San José State University. She is a quantum educator and theoretical physics researcher, with broad interests in condensed matter theory and many-body atomic physics. Her research primarily focuses on the theory of quantum noise and quantum measurement and feedback control. In addition to research, Dr. Hurst is passionate about making quantum physics education more accessible and preparing students to work in the growing quantum technology industry. Dr. Hurst is originally from Greeley, Colorado and received her BS in Engineering Physics from the Colorado School of Mines in 2012. She earned a Masters in Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge (UK), and received her PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics from the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland. Following her doctoral work, she was a National Research Council (NRC) Postdoctoral Fellow at NIST in the Quantum Measurement Division. Dr. Hurst joined the faculty of San Jose State University in Fall 2020.
Title of the talk:
Quantum State Engineering through Weak Measurement
Abstract:
The fragility of quantum states continues to present difficulties for the commercialization of quantum technologies. Superposition and entanglement are essential quantum properties which can be easily destroyed, rendering quantum devices useless. Isolating quantum systems from external disturbances has therefore been the primary mode of preserving quantum coherence, but it is difficult to scale to large quantum systems. New modes of harnessing system-environment coupling can enable robust, entangled quantum phases in open systems. Weak measurement is one such route, which enables the extraction of targeted information from a quantum system while minimizing decoherence due to measurement backaction. However, in many-body quantum systems, backaction from weak measurements can have novel effects on wavefunction collapse. I will discuss a theoretical study of continuously measured non-interacting fermions in one dimension. Repeated measurement of on-site occupation number drives the system from the completely delocalized Fermi sea toward a state with well-defined atom number on each site. We find that the spatial measurement resolution---in relation to the Fermi length---strongly affects both the collapse dynamics and the final state. These results indicate that weak measurement may be a powerful tool for state engineering in many-body quantum systems. As time allows, I will provide a brief overview of the interdisciplinary coursework being developed at San José State University to expand access to training in quantum information science and engineering.
-Dr. Tongcang Li, Purdue University
Quantum Sensing and Photonics
-Dr. Chitraleema Chakraborty, University of Delaware
Chitraleema Chakraborty received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Rochester in 2018. In 2018, she joined the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT as a postdoctoral research associate in Quantum Photonics. Following that she joined the Computational Materials Science Group at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2021, she started at the University of Delaware as Assistant professor in Materials Science and Engineering and Physics.
Title of the talk:
Flatland Quantum Materials
Abstract:
Quantum degrees of freedom in flatland 2D materials are promising building blocks for quantum information processing, quantum communications, and quantum sensing. Especially quantum emitters in 2D materials, when compared to three-dimensional materials, have the advantage of reduced total internal reflection and easy coupling with interconnects. In this talk, I will share the story of the discovery and control of quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials. The possibility of leveraging van der Waals heterostructure for charging these emitters with a single electron will be discussed. This lays the foundation for optically addressable spin qubits in flatland materials. Further, I will also discuss the possibility of ab-initio prediction, deterministic generation, and integration with photonic devices, which offers a compelling solution to scalable solid-state quantum photonics. Our work opens the frontier of quantum optics in two-dimensional materials with the potential to revolutionize solid-state quantum devices.
Robotic Applications theme:
-Andrew Phillip Conrad, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Mr. Andrew Conrad is an Electrical Engineering PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, under the supervision of Prof. Paul Kwiat. Mr. Conrad is a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow, and he has earned the Paul D. Colemen Outstanding Research Award 2022-2023. His research interests include drone-based Quantum Communications including Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Entanglement Distribution, Quantum Position Verification (QPV), and remote Quantum Sensing. Mr. Conrad has B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Electrical Engineering, both from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), where he was a member of the Missouri S&T Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Lab. His master’s thesis investigated detecting the presence of electronics by stimulating their unintended Radio Frequency (RF) emissions. Mr. Conrad has experience working as a student intern at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and as a Design Engineer in the U.S. defense industry. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Florida, is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and IEEE Senior Member.
Title of the talk:
Quantum Communication Links between Mobile Platforms
Abstract:
Quantum communication links between mobile nodes can enable secure communication, distributed quantum sensors, and distributed quantum computing. As work progresses developing the future quantum internet, most of the efforts have been concentrated on fixed links, e.g., fiber-optic connections. It is expected that the benefits of future quantum networks will also need to interface with free-space links to extend the coverage to mobile platforms such as cars, planes, ships, satellites, drones, etc. Imagine a quantum internet that goes where you go. However, free-space quantum communication links have unique challenges over fixed quantum links such as limited size, weight, and power (SWaP) for quantum systems on mobile platforms. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts to realize Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) between flying drones, and between a moving drone and moving car. I will also discuss our recent demonstration of a quantum link between two cars traveling at 70 mph on a U.S. Interstate Highway, which is a first. I will discuss our quantum transmitter and receiver setup including critical subsystems including our compact QKD source which is based on resonant-cavity LEDs, our custom optical system, our novel Pointing, Acquisition, and Tracking (PAT) system, single-photon detectors, FPGA-based time-tagger, and our qubit-based time synchronization algorithm. Finally, I will discuss our next-steps including entanglement distribution between mobile nodes, and entanglement-based Quantum Position Verification (QPV) – which can be used to authenticate the position of mobile platform using the principles of quantum mechanics.
-Chris Cantwell, Quantum Realm Games
Chris studied quantum computing, and high performance computing, at the University of Southern California (B.S. Electrical Engineering, B.S. Physics, M.S. Physics). During his studies, Chris came to believe that quantum phenomena seem confusing because people don’t consciously interact with it. Chris developed a mathematical framework for the design of quantum games, and built Quantum Chess as a proof of principle. Chris went on to enhance the game to run on Google’s quantum computing hardware.
Abstract of the talk:
Quantum games
Abstract:
Chris Cantwell will share his experience in engineering the first example in a new genre of games, and what he had to learn along the way. He will discuss his journey, from inspiration, to game design, through the challenges of running on actual quantum hardware. Chris will also discuss how he and his colleagues now apply their knowledge to other projects: from designing an open source library with a low barrier to entry, to consulting for corporate quantum workforce upskilling in areas like finance.
-Dr. Marco Quadrelli, JPL, Caltech
Dr. Quadrelli is a principal research technologist and the supervisor of the Robotics Modeling and Simulation Group in the Robotics Section at JPL. He is an expert in modeling for dynamics and control of complex space systems. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Padova (Italy), a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. He was a visiting scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, at the Institute for Paper Science and Technology, and a lecturer at the Caltech Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories. After joining NASA JPL in 1997 he has contributed to a number of flight projects including the Cassini-Huygens Probe, Deep Space One, the Mars Aerobot Test Program, the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Space Interferometry Mission, the Autonomous Rendezvous Experiment, and the Mars Science Laboratory, among others. He has been the Attitude Control lead of the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Project, and the Integrated Modeling Task Manager for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. He has led or participated in several independent research and development projects in the areas of computational micromechanics, dynamics and control of tethered space systems, formation flying, inflatable apertures, hypersonic entry, precision landing, flexible multibody dynamics, guidance, navigation and control of spacecraft swarms, terra-mechanics, and precision pointing for optical systems. His current research interests are in the areas of multi-domain, multi-physics, multi-body, multi-scale physics-based modeling, dynamics and control. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts Fellow, and a Caltech/Keck Institute for Space Studies Fellow.
Title of the talk:
Further Explorations at the Intersection between Robotic Space Exploration and Quantum Technology
Abstract:
In this talk, Dr. Quadrelli will present an overview of robotic systems for planetary exploration being developed at JPL, the trends driving the current developments in planetary robotics, some of the technical challenges involved, recent progress with his collaborators, and some of his personal thoughts on possible applications of quantum-related technologies in this area.
