Taking place in the afternoon and evening of Friday, April 4th, 2025.
All parts of this event will take place on the second floor of the Physics Building (PHYS).
Location address:
525 Northwestern Ave
West Lafayette, IN 47906

2:30 PM: Check-in opens for presenters (Room: PHYS 290).

3:00 PM: Poster session opens to the public (Room: PHYS 290).

4:30 - 5:30 PM: Two talks with representatives from academia and national laboratory research. (Room: PHYS 223).

5:30 PM: Event comes to a close.
Anyone who would like to stay longer after the talks is welcome to return to PHYS 290.

Post-Quantum Secure Distributed Computing from Lightweight Cryptography
Presenter:  Akhil Bandarupalli
Secure distributed computing (SDC) is a fundamental building block of security-sensitive systems, including blockchains and Cyber-Physical Systems. These systems must withstand various adversarial threats while scaling to support millions of users worldwide. However, existing solutions heavily rely on legacy public-key cryptography based on the Discrete Logarithm problem, which is both computationally expensive and vulnerable to quantum attacks. Research on post-quantum (PQ) secure SDC primarily follows two approaches: (a) Public-key cryptography based on Learning With Errors (LWE) and (b) Information-Theoretic (IT) cryptography. However, LWE-based schemes introduce significant computational overhead and IT cryptography has high communication costs, both further exacerbating scalability issues. In this work, we take a different approach by leveraging lightweight cryptographic primitives, such as cryptographic hash functions and symmetric key encryption. These techniques are inherently resistant to quantum attacks and are at least 1000× faster than discrete-log-based operations, making them well-suited for scalable SDC. However, they lack homomorphic transcript aggregation properties, which poses a design challenge. Despite this, the potential of lightweight cryptography in PQ-secure SDC remains underexplored. This project aims to develop and implement concretely efficient SDC protocols using lightweight cryptography, offering a practical alternative to conventional PQ-secure approaches. Further, we also challenge the broader trend of losing performance for PQ security and establish lightweight cryptography-based SDC as a viable alternative in the post-quantum world.
Keywords: Post-Quantum Security Minicrypt Lightweight Cryptography Secure Distributed Computing Multi-Party Computation

Quantum-Like Bits: Graph Constructions for Arbitrary Qubit States
Presenter: Ethan Dickey
Building on experimental observations of composite graphs that exhibit emergent eigenvectors in complex synchronized networks, we develop a rigorous graph theoretic framework for constructing quantum-like bits (QL-bits). Our approach builds a composite system from two k-regular subgraphs coupled via a bipartite connection matrix C, whose emergent eigenvectors form a natural qubit basis. Rigorous proofs establish that the composite matrix R=[A C; Cᵀ B] yields eigenvectors corresponding to eigenvalues λ₋ = k + l and λ₊ = k - l under symmetric coupling. By introducing tuning through detuning (varying subgraph regularity) and employing asymmetric coupling (via directed matrices C_A, C_B in replacement of C, Cᵀ), we show how to generate an arbitrary state ψ = aψ₊ + bψ₋ (with a² + b² = 1). This work extends previous research on quantum-like state representations and offers a flexible methodology for state manipulation with applications in quantum simulation and network synchronization.
Keywords: Quantum-like bits, Graph theory, Emergent eigenvectors, Symmetric coupling, Detuning

Investigating Quantum Properties of Two-dimensional Moiré WSe2
Presenter: Euihyun Jo
We present unconventional quantum states in twisted moiré WSe₂, including correlated insulators and superconductors reported by various groups. We also highlight our progress on twisted trilayer moiré WSe₂, revealing emergent phenomena.
Keywords:  2D materials, Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD), Moiré superlattice

Microwave Spectroscopy of Topological Surface State Josephson Junctions
Presenter: Mingi Kim
Josephson junctions are quantum dot with mild confinement defined by the superconducting gap. The low energy states bounded between superconducting leads can have electrical properties of both superconductor and junction material. Here we are trying to probe these low energy states called Andreev bound states on topological insulator (TI) Josephson junctions that still has interesting properties of TI materials.
Keywords: Condensed matter experiments, Josephson junctions, Microwave spectroscopy, Andreev bound states

Bell Tests via Top Quark Production at LHC in 13TeV Regime
Presenter: Xiaoyu Liu
This study investigates quantum entanglement in top quark pair production at the LHC through high-precision tests of Bell inequalities via spin correlation analyses. Utilizing the Bell-CHSH inequality, we develop a framework to probe local hidden variable theories by examining the spin correlation matrix $C$ of $t\bar{t}$ systems. The Horodecki criterion provides a necessary and sufficient condition for Bell inequality violation, requiring the sum of the two largest eigenvalues of $C^\top C$ to exceed unity. Experimentally, a more accessible sufficient condition $|C_{ii} \pm C_{jj}| > \sqrt{2}$ is derived, enabling tests without full reconstruction of $C$. Angular distributions of dileptonic decays ($t\bar{t} \to \ell^+\ell^- + \text{jets}$) are analyzed to extract $C$, with observables such as $\cos\theta_{\pm}$ and azimuthal asymmetries linked to spin polarization ($B_{1,2}$) and correlation parameters. Asymmetry measurements in these distributions yield direct access to $C$, circumventing detector efficiency biases. Results highlight the LHC's potential to test quantum foundations, with top quarks serving as a unique high-energy platform for violating Bell inequalities and challenging local realism. This approach bridges quantum information theory with collider physics, offering novel insights into entanglement in beyond-Standard Model scenarios.
Keywords: Quantum Entanglement, Particle Physics, Bell's inequality

Synthesis and Characterization of ZrAl3 & ZrGa3
Presenter: Ryan Manley
Having materials that are cheap, simple, and non-toxic is important to implementing them into applications. The tetragonal crystals, ZrAl3 and ZrGa3, present such qualities and carry an interesting potential for electronic topology based on electronic structure calculations. Here, we devised a simple method to synthesize good quality crystals of these compounds and analyzed their electromagnetic characteristics for further study. Using Aluminum and Gallium as fluxes, we flux grew a sample of each compound. We confirmed the phase composition of our samples using powder XRD. We then etched the crystals with a 10wt% HCl solution to remove remnant flux and used a Quantum Design MPMS and PPMS to run a magnetism and resistivity measurement on the samples at varying temperatures and magnetic fields. Magnetometry of the ZrGa3 shows that there are no low temperature transitions in the diamagnetic material and that the superconducting Gallium is only 190ppm of the material’s volume. The resistance data agrees, exhibiting the resistivity characteristic of a simple metal. Magnetization measurements of ZrAl3 are also suggestive of a simple metal with no transitions. These findings yield a basic characterization of the bulk of these compounds as reference for more specific experiments on their electronic topology. This successful and simple synthetization process for ZrAl3 and ZrGa3 provides an easy source for its future experimentation.
Keywords: Synthesis, Characterization, Crystals

Engineering 2D Quantum Materials with Atomic Precision
Presenter: Christopher Ulate
2D materials provide an excellent platform for exploring novel quantum phenomena driven by electron correlation and topology, some can have significant impact in technologies and quantum information science. Combining materials and device engineering with STM can connect macroscopic phenomena with microscopic mechanisms, which provides unique opportunities in understanding the underlying physics.
Keywords: 2D materials, Quantum devices, Scanning tunneling microscopy, Molecular beam epitaxy

On Low Rank Fusion Rings
Presenter: Gert Vercleyen
The biggest challenge quantum computation is keeping errors in check. One proposed way of building a stable quantum computer is via the use of so-called anyons. These are strange particles that only exist in two dimensions and whose behavior is described using fusion categories. My poster presents a classification of all nice physical systems that can host up to 6 different anyon species.
Keywords: Quantum Computing, Anyons, Fusion Categories

If you're interested in attending the event but do not want to present, please use the below registration form. Attendee registration will be open until the start of the event. If you do not complete the registration before the event, you are still welcome to attend! All attendees will be asked to sign in when they arrive at the event.
Attendee Registration Form 

Q: How big can my poster be?

A: We ask that all presenters keep their posters to 3 ft x 4 ft to ensure there is space for all presenters.

Q: I am not a student at Purdue. Can I still attend or present a poster at the event?

A: Yes! All are welcome to attend. Anyone doing research related to quantum science, information, and/or technology is welcome to present their work. Please note, however, that we cannot provide financial support for travel.

Q: Who is allowed to present a poster?

A: All are welcome to present a poster so long as it pertains to research in quantum science, information, and/or technology, but undergraduate and graduate students will be given priority for presenting their posters due to the limited space of the venue. If the space constraint affects any registered presenters who are not undergraduate or graduate students, we will contact them as soon as possible.