The long-term research posture of the CIQC addresses three Research Challenges
Discovering and realizing the power of quantum computation
There are major discoveries to be made in theoretical quantum computer science. A central challenge is to uncover novel algorithmic motifs by which quantum computers can address an increasing domain of previously unsolvable problems. In parallel, even as we determine what a quantum computer is good for, we also face the challenge of how to build and operate it. Emerging quantum technologies may represent the quantum-computing equivalents of the vacuum tubes, or, optimistically, the transistors of classical computing. But how can these hardware elements be used to realize large-scale, error-free quantum computing? Now, as logical qubits are moving from abstraction to reality in several quantum platforms, we see a perfect opportunity to address this question through convergent research on quantum error correction and fault tolerance, including co-design of error-correcting codes, algorithms, and hardware.
Engineering quantum technologies and developing their applications
We already benefit from first-generation quantum technologies, such as lasers, atomic clocks, and magnetic resonance imaging, that gain function from single-particle quantum coherence. Now the challenge is to engineer next-generation technologies that gain function from the entanglement within many-body quantum systems. Addressing this quantum engineering challenge is, of course, essential to realizing the full power of quantum computing. But also, we face the challenge and opportunity to identify applications of entanglement-powered quantum devices beyond quantum computing, e.g. for advanced sensing or communications. The crux of the quantum engineering challenge varies between hardware platforms: Neutral-atom quantum information processors face the challenge of speeding up system operation and modularization. Trapped-ion processors face the challenge of large-scale integration and optical control. Solid-state processors face the challenge of extending coherence times and of signal transduction. Addressing these challenges requires a broad scientific approach, where concepts developed in one discipline can be adapted to another and where co-design of hardware platforms together with algorithms, error correction and fault-tolerance, and quantum computer architecture and software, can identify the fastest way forward.
Understanding nature through the lens of QIS
The advent of QIS affects our scientific understanding of the natural world in two significant ways. First, viewing many-body quantum systems from the perspective of QIS allows us to classify and understand materials based on new principles, e.g., by the scaling of entanglement entropy with system size or by assessing whether a state of matter supports quantum teleportation. Second, experimental quantum systems built by scientists and engineers are novel physical systems in their own right, worthy of scientific study. Today’s quantum computing hardware raises fundamental questions in many-body quantum physics. What is the nature of a material made up of logical, rather than physical, qubits, e.g. in terms of phases of matter, phase transitions, transport, or optical response? What distinctly quantum mechanical behavior can be retained by interactive quantum matter, e.g. a quantum circuit subject to measurement? Beyond quantum error correction, how do many-body quantum systems evolve when subject to measurement and feedback control?
We are addressing these Research Challenges by focusing on three Specific Research Aims
To discover and demonstrate new quantum algorithms with exponential advantage
Our aim is to develop efficiently verifiable quantum advantage tests, identify and prove quantum advantage in sensing classical fields, and enable the first realization of quantum advantage for a complex quantum chemistry problem. We also aim to apply novel quantum algorithm techniques to tackle fundamental challenges in quantum complexity theory.
To develop scalable architectures and address roadblocks to fault-tolerant quantum computing
We aim to implement fault-tolerant quantum computation in our neutral-atom processors, and tackle roadblocks to next-generation neutral-atom, solid-state, and trapped-ion quantum computers, including fidelity, speed, and scaling limits, and developing a reliable tool for comparing quantum technologies.
To use QIS to understand nature and discover novel states for computation
We aim to use quantum information concepts to understand myriad quantum phenomena such as metastability, thermalization, and topological order, to use quantum hardware to create new forms of non-equilibrium quantum matter, and to turn this improved physical understanding to enhance the robustness of QIS.
