Congratulations to Dr. Jun Liu, professor of applied mathematics and Canada Research Chair in Hybrid Systems and Control, on receiving funding from the National Research Council (NRC)’s Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program. The grant, which totals $337,315 over two years, supports a collaborative project titled “Efficient Quantum Algorithms for Long-Term Qualitative Analysis of Dynamical Systems.”
“This is a new project, taking our research in a new direction, and it’s very exciting,” Liu says.
Liu’s research focuses on studying the long-term behaviour of dynamical systems, a process that can be computationally expensive due to the complexity of the underlying calculations.
L-R: Dr. Maxwell Fitzsimmons, Dr. Meenu Kumari, Dr. Jun Liu
“Quantum computing holds promise for speeding up certain classical calculations,” he says. “One of the motivations for this research is to investigate whether quantum algorithms can speed up the calculations we want to do, particularly those related to the long-term behaviour and control of dynamical systems, which arise naturally in a wide range of science and engineering applications.”
Liu is partnering on the research with Dr. Meenu Kumari, an NRC research officer working in quantum information, and his former PhD student, Dr. Maxwell Fitzsimmons. “We’re all excited about the synergy between our expertise,” Liu says.
“The interdisciplinary environment of the Department of Applied Mathematics facilitates a broad spectrum of exciting quantum computing research, ranging from physics foundations to quantum technology to applied quantum algorithms,” says Dr. Hans De Sterck, chair of Applied Math. “This new grant will allow Prof. Liu and his collaborators to push the boundaries of quantum algorithms research for new applications in science and engineering.”
Liu emphasizes that the project builds on a strong research environment in Applied Math, where colleagues including Dr. Achim Kempf, Dr. David Del Rey Fernandez, Dr. Joseph Emerson, and Dr. Graeme Smith have also received NRC grants for quantum research in the past few years. “We have a critical mass of people working across scientific computing, control and dynamical systems, mathematical physics, and quantum information,” Liu says. “That makes Applied Math a natural place to explore how quantum algorithms can be used to study complex dynamical systems.”
The Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program is funded by the NRC’s Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program.