The Speakers
Keynote Speaker
The field of Quantum Computing: status, roadmap at IBM, and career opportunities
Abstract:
IBM leads the world in Quantum Computing. This technology is widely expected to solve valuable problems that are unsolvable using any known methods on classical supercomputers. This talk will give a brief overview of quantum computing, IBM’s roadmap for offerings and advancements, educational resources for Qiskit, and information on the IBM internship program.
Keynote Speaker
Uncovering Local Integrability in Quantum Many-Body Dynamics
Abstract:
Simulation of quantum physics is one of the most promising near-term applications of state-of-the-art quantum devices. I will describe how we observed many-body localization in quantum circuits running on IBM quantum hardware, leading to one of the largest recent physics experiments on superconducting quantum hardware. I will show how static disorder can prevent quantum chaos and equilibration, and how this phenomenon arises from the presence of many hidden local integrals of motion, which we faithfully reconstruct. For the rest of the talk, I will illustrate similar techniques for studying topological materials and discuss the preparation of Gibbs states on near-term quantum devices.
“Quantum Biology”: how nature harnesses quantum processes to function optimally, and how might we control such quantum processes to therapeutic and tech advantage.
Abstract:
Imagine driving cell activities to treat injuries and disease simply by using tailored magnetic fields. Many relevant physiological processes, such as: the regulation of oxidative stress, proliferation, and respiration rates in cells; wound healing; ion channel functioning; and DNA repair were all demonstrated to be controlled by weak magnetic fields (with a strength on the order of that produced by your cell phone). Such macroscopic physiological responses to magnetic fields are consistent with being driven by chemical reactions that depend on the electron quantum property of spin. In the long-term, the electromagnetic fine-tuning of endogenous “quantum knobs” existing in nature could enable the development of drugs and therapeutic devices that could heal the human body — in a way that is non-invasive, remotely actuated, and easily accessible by anyone with a mobile phone. However, whereas spin-dependent chemical reactions have been unambiguously established for test-tube chemistry (bearing uncanny similarities with what physicists call “spin quantum sensing”), current research has not been able to deterministically link spin states to physiological outcomes in vivo and in real time. With novel quantum instrumentation, we are learning to control spin states within cells and tissues, having as a goal to write the “codebook” on how to deterministically alter physiology with weak magnetic fields to therapeutic and technological advantage.
Non-Hermitian Quantum Systems: Qubits, Decoherence, Information, Entropy and Beyond
Abstract:
The focus of this talk will be on significant recent efforts devoted to non-Hermitian quantum phenomena in the context of photonics and related fields. About 25 years ago it was shown by Bender and Boettcher that a non-Hem1itian system with balanced gain and loss, or parity-time reversal (PT) symmetry, could still possess all eigenvalues as real below a threshold value of gain/loss. Subsequently, this prediction was experimentally verified in photonic waveguides and several other physical settings. After a pedagogical introduction to the subject, I will provide several examples that illustrate a variety of unusual properties of non-Hermitian systems. Specifically, I wi ll consider decoherence, entanglement entropy and Fisher information for both PT-symmetric and anti-PT-symmetric qubits and compare these properties with the corresponding attributes of a Hermitian qubit. I will also consider a discrete system, that of a PT-symmetric Kagome photonic lattice, in which dispersionless flat bands emerge. The latter are responsible for long-lived chiral structures and localization in the lattice. Such photonic lattices are beginning to find applications in optical beam engineering, image processing and active metamaterials. Additionally, I will discuss a few other examples including the stability of driven non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with different periodicities using Floquet theory. Finally, I will emphasize the potential quantum computing and quantum information processing applications of non Hermitian systems.
Abhijit Chakraborty
Institute for Quantum Computing - University of Waterloo
Institute for Quantum Computing - University of Waterloo
Abhijit Chakraborty is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo. His work is focused on the applications of classical machine learning in quantum systems. He is also interested in quantum sensing, variational quantum algorithms, and quantum simulations of fundamental physics.
He obtained a PhD in Physics from the University of Houston with a thesis on relativistic quantum information.
Pablo Lopez-Duque
University of Houston
University of Houston
Pablo Lopez-Duque is a PhD candidate in Quantum Physics at the University of Houston. His expertise is in modeling different physical systems using theoretical, experimental, and data-driven tools. His PhD research is focused on conformal systems, relativistic quantum information and quantum computing education. He is also interested in applying quantum algorithms to optimization, simulation of quantum systems and cryptography, and in the application of physics informed machine learning to solve real-world problems.
He obtained a MSc in Physics from the University of Houston in 2021 with a thesis on a computational model for novel infectious diseases.