Current students

Michael Hilke, McGill University

We will review several proof of principle applications for graphene based devices performed in our group, including in field sensors, electronics, THz spectroscopy, spintronics, nanofluidics, and even musical instruments. We will then discuss the synthesis mechanism of graphene as well as the synthesis of very large single layered graphene monocrystals with various shapes, ranging from hexagons to fractals, dubbed graphlocons.

Robin Kothari

We provide a quantum algorithm for simulating the
dynamics of sparse Hamiltonians with complexity sublogarithmic in
the inverse error, an exponential improvement over previous methods.
Unlike previous approaches based on product formulas, the query
complexity is independent of the number of qubits acted on, and for
time-varying Hamiltonians, the gate complexity is logarithmic in the
norm of the derivative of the Hamiltonian. Our algorithm is based on
a significantly improved simulation of the continuous- and

Takashi Imai, McMaster University

NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is a versatile probe of condensed matter, and has a broad range of applications in chemistry, medicine (MRI), oil industry, etc. NMR has become so popular outside the conventional realm of physics that the crucial role NMR has been playing in condensed matter physics is sometimes overlooked. I will explain how condensed matter physicists use NMR as a powerful low energy probe of solids, drawing examples from modern research into statistical physics, magnetism, and superconductivity.

Volkher Scholz, Institute for Theoretical Physics ETH Zurich

We derive new Heisenberg-type uncertainty relations for both joint measurability and the error- disturbance tradeoff for arbitrary observables of finite-dimensional systems. The relations are formulated in terms of a directly operational quantity, namely the probability of distinguishing the actual operation of a device from its hypothetical ideal, by any possible testing procedure whatsoever.

Jingyun Fan, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Measurements based on the quantum properties of physical system have enabled many tasks which are not possible by any classical means. In this talk, I introduce two quantum receivers that discriminate nonorthogonal optical coherent states unconditionally surpassing the standard quantum limit, with mean photon numbers ranging from single photon level to many photons, thus bridging the gap between quantum information technology and state-of-the art coherent communications.

Xiaodong Xu, The University of Washington

Electronic valleys are extrema of Bloch energy bands in momentum space. Having multiple valleys gives the electron states pseudospin degrees of freedom in addition to their real spin. In this talk, I will discuss our experimental progress on the investigation of spins and pseudospins using atomically thin semiconductors, which are either single or bilayer group VI transition metal dichalcogenides.

The Institute for Quantum Computing's (IQC) Grad Student Association  is screening the 7 Academy Award winning movie Gravity on April 2nd at 7 pm. The event will be followed by a short presentation and Q&A with IQC's  associate member, astronaut, and former Canadian Space Agency president Steve MacLean.

Enrique Solano, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain

I will introduce the field of quantum simulations from a wide
scientific perspective. Then, I will discuss the relevance of quantum
simulations for reproducing different aspects of quantum physics:
nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum dynamics, physical and unphysical
quantum operations, as well as strong and ultrastrong light-matter
interactions. Finally, I will give examples in the context of trapped-ion
and circuit QED technologies.

A conference to celebrate the work of Chris Godsil

It is surprising that the characteristic polynomial of the adjacency matrix of a graph provides a useful window onto combinatorial properties of the graph itself, but this approach to graph theory has been a source of interesting and useful results for over 80 years.

Joseph F. Traub, Columbia University