Events

The mathematics of non-local games

William Slofstra, Institute for Quantum Computing

Non-local games are an important subject in quantum information. They provide relatively simple experimental scenarios for testing the axioms of quantum mechanics, and have been proposed for other practical applications, especially in device-independent cryptography. However, we do not know how to answer many of the basic mathematical questions about non-local games.

This is the first of the Intellectual Property (IP) Management Lunch and Learn Lecture Series. We are bringing in thought leaders in the protection and management of intellectual property, including many years of experience in relevant areas of information technology.

This session will be led by Tom Hunter.

Carbon nanotube forest from energy conversion to MEMS devices and a laser based single sub 10nm particle analyzer: new developments in nanotechnology

​Mehran Vahdani, The University of British Columbia

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, so called CNT forests, have unique properties that make them excellent candidates in a wide variety of applications ranging from nanotechnology to electronics and photonics.

Quantum entanglement through the lens of computation and cryptography 

Henry Yuen, University of California at Berkeley

Quantum entanglement was once a philosophical peculiarity in physics — Einstein famously derided it as spooky action at a distance. Alongside wave/particle duality and the uncertainty principle, entanglement was just another bizarre feature of quantum mechanics. However, the study of quantum computation and quantum information has established entanglement as central to the story that connects quantum physics, computer science, and information theory.

Short film festival + public lecture by Martin Laforest

Join us for a night of film and science. The Institute for Quantum Computing has partnered with the Centre for Quantum Technologies in Singapore to host a festival for quantum-inspired films. The screening of the top 10 short films will be followed by a lecture by Senior Manager, Scientific Outreach, Martin Laforest about the applications of quantum devices. He will delve into what we know quantum devices will be used for (that will affect everyone) and where researchers are hoping they will be used in the future.

Epitaxial Growth of Silicon Nanowires and Niobium Thin Films for Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy

Michele Piscitelli

Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM) is an imaging technique enabling the acquisition of magnetic resonance images at nanometer scales. Single electron spin sensitivity has been demonstrated [1] and current MRFM research is focused on working towards achieving single nuclear spin sensitivity. In general, an MRFM setup requires a nano-scale source of high magnetic field gradients to modulate the sample spins and a cantilever-based detection scheme to measure their magnetic moment.

Harnessing quantum entanglement 

Laura Mancinska, University of Bristol 

The phenomenon of entanglement is one the key features of quantum mechanics. It can be used to attain functionality lying beyond the reach of classical technologies. In practice, however, finding the best way of harnessing entanglement for a given task is extremely challenging and one is often forced to resort to ad hoc methods. The mathematical structure of entanglement- enabled strategies is poorly understood and many basic questions remain open. This lack of understanding has prevented us from fully exploiting the advantages that entanglement can offer for operational tasks.

Progress and challenges in designing a universal Majorana quantum computer

Torsten Karzig, Microsoft Research Station Q

I will discuss a promising design proposal for a scalable topological quantum computer. The qubits are envisioned to be encoded in aggregates of four or more Majorana zero modes, realized at the ends of topological superconducting wire segments that are assembled into superconducting islands with significant charging energy. Quantum information can be manipulated according to a measurement-only protocol, which is facilitated by tunable couplings between Majorana zero modes and nearby semiconductor quantum dots.

This is the second of the Intellectual Property (IP) Management Lunch and Learn Lecture Series. We are bringing in thought leaders in the protection and management of intellectual property, including many years of experience in relevant areas of information technology.

This session will be led by Jeff Wong.

Expected communication cost of distributed quantum tasks

Penghui Yao, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Data compression is a fundamental problem in quantum and classical information theory. A typical version of the problem is that the sender Alice receives a classical or quantum) state from some known ensemble and needs to transmit it to the receiver Bob with average error below some specified bound. We consider the case in which the message can have a variable length and goal is to minimise its expected length. For the classical case, this problem has a well-known solution given by the Huffman coding.