Quantum Science and Technology Colloquia (Formerly Quantum Information Science)

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Colloquia will be held on Wednesdays, 3:00PM - 4:00PM, unless otherwise specified.

1. Wednesday 29th January, 2025 3:00-4:00pm in SB 146

   Artur Izmaylov [University of Toronto]

   Title: Optimizing quantum algorithms for next-generation quantum chemistry
   Abstract: Quantum chemistry problem is one of the attractive targets for demonstrating the quantum advantage of quantum computing technology. Having strongly correlated systems as the main target, I would like to discuss what new classical computing techniques need to be developed to help quantum computing algorithms to solve the electronic structure problem. Encoding the electronic Hamiltonian in a second quantized form on a quantum computer is a complex task, with efficiency challenges that can significantly impact the overall performance of quantum solutions. To address these challenges, we propose partitioning the Hamiltonian into a sum of fragments that can be diagonalized through rotations derived from small Lie groups or the Clifford group. These partitions simplify algebraic manipulations critical for circuit compilation and quantum measurement processes. I will demonstrate how this Hamiltonian partitioning strategy enhances the efficiency of key quantum chemistry algorithms, including the Variational Quantum Eigensolver and Quantum Phase Estimation.

2024

1. Scanning new horizons: Information, holography & gravity (joint colloquium with Department of Physics and Astronomy)
   Rob Myers [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics]
   Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
   4 November 2024  - abstract -




2. DAMSA: A novel dark matter search experiment
   Jaehoon Yu [University of Texas at Arlington]
   Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
   29 February 2024  - abstract -




2023

3. Quantum computing for industry applications
   Enrique Solano [Kipu Quantum]
   2 March 2023  - abstract -




2021

4. Testing and verifying quantum devices
   Barbara Kraus [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Innsbruck]
   1 June 2021  - abstract -




5. Bulk-boundary correspondence in topological phases of matter
   Abhijeet Alase [Institute for Quantum Science and Technology]
   Co-sponsored by: Department of Mathematics and Statistics
   15 April 2021  - abstract -




2020

6. Beyond quantum resource theories
   Carlo Maria Scandolo [Department of Mathematics and Statistics]
   16 December 2020  - abstract -




7. Exploiting weak chemical bonds for building molecular devices for classical and quantum computing
   Pierre Kennepohl [Department of Chemistry]
   2 December 2020  - abstract -




8. TBA
   Lilian Childress [McGill University]
   Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
   16 April 2020  - abstract -




2019

9. Quantum-enhanced sensing with light
   Alberto Marino [University of Oklahoma]
   Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
   21 November 2019  - abstract -




10. Supersolid phases of dipolar systems
    Massimo Boninsegni [University of Alberta]
    22 May 2019  - abstract -




11. Nonlinear microresonators for integrated quantum photonics and optical atomic clocks
    Kartik Srinivasan [National Institutte of Standards and Technology]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    1 March 2019  - abstract -




2018

12. Quantum quivering from dissipation and noise
    Aashish Clerk [University of Chicago]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    2 November 2018  - abstract -




13. TBA
    Joseph Maciejko [University of Alberta]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    19 October 2018  - abstract -




14. Optical Ising machines: Computation using a network of OPOs
    Alireza Marandi [Stanford University]
    14 March 2018  - abstract -




15. Engineering coherent defects in diamond
    Nathalie de Leon [Princeton University]
    2 February 2018  - abstract -




16. Quantum computing with superconducting circuits
    Alexandre Blais [Université de Sherbrooke]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    26 January 2018  - abstract -




2017

17. Adventures in quantum optimization with noisy qubits
    Daniel Lidar [University of Southern California]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    29 September 2017  - abstract -




18. Error models and error thresholds
    Ken Brown [Georgia Institute of Technology]
    19 April 2017  - abstract -




19. The structures and properties of ionic clusters
    Scott Hopkins [University of Waterloo ]
    29 March 2017  - abstract -




20. Quantum physics in one dimension using nanostructured Josephson-junction arrays
    Timothy Duty [University of New South Wales]
    8 March 2017  - abstract -




2016

21. Quantum computation with Rydberg atoms: across the periodic table and beyond
    Saffman Mark [University of Wisconsin (Madison) ]
    26 August 2016  - abstract -




22. D-Wave's approach to quantum computing: 1000-qubits and counting!
    Colin Williams [D-Wave Systems]
    7 April 2016  - abstract -




23. Defects in semiconductors: atomic-like systems in a solid-state host
    Kai-Mei Fu [University of Washington]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    4 March 2016  - abstract -




24. Spin transport in a unitary fermi gas
    Joseph Thywissen [University of Toronto]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    22 January 2016  - abstract -




2015

25. Universal quantum dynamics: quantum catastrophes
    Duncan O'Dell [McMaster University]
    9 December 2015  - abstract -




26. Computational Chemistry: From small molecule quantum dynamics to new materials
    Alex Brown [University of Alberta]
    2 December 2015  - abstract -




27. TBA (joint colloquium with Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Daniel Lidar [University of Southern California]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    2 December 2015  - abstract -




28. Collective quantum effects in ultracold atomic gases
    Lindsay LeBlanc [University of Alberta]
    19 November 2015  - abstract -




29. Distributed Quantum Computing and Networking with Trapped Ions
    Jungsang Kim [Duke University]
    4 November 2015  - abstract -




30. Superconducting quantum circuits
    Alexandre Blais [University of Sherbrooke]
    23 September 2015  - abstract -




31. Semiconductor quantum technologies for information processing and sensing
    Dirk Englund [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
    16 April 2015  - abstract -




32. Quantum networks of trapped ions
    Christopher Monroe [University of Maryland]
    25 March 2015  - abstract -




33. The Kondo effect and entanglement
    Ian Affleck [University of British Columbia]
    18 February 2015  - abstract -




34. Wigner function negativity and contextuality in quantum computation on rebits
    Robert Raußendorf [University of British Columbia]
    11 February 2015  - abstract -




2014

35. Understanding the chemical vapour deposition of diamond
    Mike Ashfold [University of Bristol]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Chemistry
    24 October 2014  - abstract -




36. What is the origin of complex probability amplitudes?
    William Wootters [Williams College]
    7 May 2014  - abstract -




37. Insights into the electronic structure of molecules from Generalized Valence Bond theory
    Thomas Harold Dunning [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
    Co-sponsored by: Center for Molecular Simulation
    16 April 2014  - abstract -




38. TBA - CANCELLED
    Christopher Monroe [University of Maryland]
    19 March 2014  - abstract -




39. Optical spectroscopy of triply charged thorium
    Alex Kuzmich [Georgia Institute of Technology]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    7 March 2014  - abstract -




40. Quantum nanophotonics and nanomechanics with diamond
    Marko Loncar [Harvard University]
    Co-sponsored by: University of Calgary Nanotechnology Group and OSA/SPIE Student Chapter
    26 February 2014  - abstract -




41. Quantum measurement tradeoffs, from Heisenberg to Aharonov to quantum data compression
    Aephraim Steinberg [University of Toronto]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    14 February 2014  - abstract -




42. Quantum metrology meets quantum information science
    Carlton Caves [University of New Mexico]
    Co-sponsored by: PIMS CRG MQI seminar series
    8 January 2014  - abstract -




2013

43. Quantum entanglement for fun and profit
    Paul Kwiat [University of Illinois]
    Co-sponsored by: PIMS CRG MQI series
    27 November 2013  - abstract -




44. Compressive quantum sensing
    John Howell [University of Rochester]
    Co-sponsored by: PIMS CRG MQI seminar series
    20 November 2013  - abstract -




45. Ultrafast light harvesting processes in photosynthesis
    Gregory Scholes [University of Toronto]
    25 September 2013  - abstract -




46. Electron shot noise is quantum light
    Bertrand Reulet [Département de Physique, Université de Sherbrooke]
    15 May 2013  - abstract -




47. Modulating light at the micro- and nano-scale
    Joyce Poon [University of Toronto]
    Co-sponsored by: OSA Student Chapter
    19 February 2013  - abstract -




2012

48. Coherence, decoherence and incoherence in natural light-induced processes
    Paul Brumer [University of Toronto]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Chemistry
    31 October 2012  - abstract -




49. Prospects in relativistic quantum information
    Achim Kempf [University of Waterloo]
    19 September 2012  - abstract -




50. Toward Quantum Information Processing Devices with Semiconductor and Graphene Quantum Dots
    Pawel Hawrylak [National Research Council (NRC) of Canada]
    13 September 2012  - abstract -




51. Correlated quantum transport of electrons up to 360 K (joint colloquium with Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics)
    John Miller [University of Houston]
    Co-sponsored by: Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics
    21 June 2012  - abstract -




52. Monolithic Semiconductor Circuits for Frequency Conversion & Quantum Photonics
    Amr Helmy [University of Toronto]
    5 June 2012  - abstract -




53. Position-based cryptography (joint colloquium with Department of Computer Science)
    Harry Buhrman [Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica, and University of Amsterdam]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Computer Science
    2 May 2012  - abstract -




54. Quantum states: Are they the real thing? (joint colloquium with the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Terry Rudolph [Imperial College]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    9 March 2012  - abstract -




2011

55. Effective Hamiltonians for Detuned Systems
    Daniel James [University of Toronto]
    28 April 2011  - abstract -




56. Spin Glasses and Computational Complexity
    Daniel Gottesman [Perimeter Institute]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    6 April 2011  - abstract -




2010

57. Quantum imaging: exploiting the transverse structure of individual photons (joint colloquium with the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Robert Boyd [University of Ottawa]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    3 December 2010  - abstract -




58. Hydrogen Tunneling and Protein Motion in Enzyme Reactions
    Sharon Hammes-Schiffer [Pennsylvania State University]
    Co-sponsored by: Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics
    18 October 2010  - abstract -




59. Cavity QED: Nonlinearity and the World of Quanta (joint colloquium with the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Howard Carmichael [University of Auckland]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    19 February 2010  - abstract -




2009

60. Quantum limits and entanglement in metrology and magnetometry
    Eugene Polzik [Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University]
    8 December 2009  - abstract -




61. Quantum computer - dream and realization
    Rainer Blatt [Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Innsbruck]
    2 November 2009  - abstract -




62. Does Zeno Freeze the Evolution? On Quantum Heating, Cooling and Freezing.
    Gershon Kurizki [The Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot 76100 , Israel]
    29 July 2009  - abstract -




63. Towards a QED for dispersive and absorptive media
    John Sipe [University of Toronto]
    5 May 2009  - abstract -




64. Hiking over quantum control landscapes (MITACS QIP Seminar Series)
    Herschel Rabitz [Princeton University]
    Co-sponsored by: Institute for Biocomplexity & Information
    7 April 2009  - abstract -




65. Quantum information and its application to cryptography (MITACS QIP Seminar Series)
    Michele Mosca [Institute for Quantum Computing]
    3 April 2009  - abstract -




66. Quantum-Opto-Mechanics: quantum foundations and quantum information on the nano- and microscale
    Markus Aspelmeyer [Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of Austrian Academy of Sciences]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    10 March 2009  - abstract -




2008

67. Using quantum mechanics to detect anthrax (joint colloquium with the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Marlan Scully [Texas A&M University and Princeton University]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    12 December 2008  - abstract -




68. Entanglement in quantum many-body systems far away from equilibrium: Are there non-trivial quantum effects in biology?
    Hans Briegel [Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck; Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    11 December 2008  - abstract -




69. Recollections of Oppenheimer and Schwinger (joint colloquium with the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
    Edward Gerjuoy [Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh]
    Co-sponsored by: Institute for Quantum Information Science
    31 October 2008  - abstract -




70. Controlled Coupling and Occupation of Silicon Atomic Quantum Dots at Room Temperature
    Robert Wolkow [Department of Physics, University of Alberta & National Institute for Nanotechnology]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    21 October 2008  - abstract -




71. Dimensional Scaling for Atoms and Molecules (PHAS colloquium)
    Goong Chen [Texas A&M University]
    16 May 2008  - abstract -




2007

72. A personal perspective on quantum cryptography (Faculty of Science Distinguished Lecture)
    Gilles Brassard [Université de Montréal]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    28 September 2007  - abstract -




73. Protecting an optical qubit against photon loss
    Konrad Banaszek [Nicolaus Copernicus University]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    20 June 2007  - abstract -




74. Quantum Interconnecting Atoms and Photons (Co-sponsored by MITACS)
    Joerg Schmiedmayer [Atominstitut der österreichischen Universitäten]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    4 June 2007  - abstract -




75. Quantum observations: reconstruction of quantum states and processes (Co-sponsored by MITACS)
    Vladimír Bužek [Research Center for Quantum Information, Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences]
    Co-sponsored by: MITACS QIP Seminar Series
    31 May 2007  - abstract -




76. Entanglement in Quantum Information (MAST Colloquium)
    Gilad Gour [University of Calgary]
    22 March 2007  - abstract -




77. Large-Scale Quantum Phenomena, & the Decoherence Enigma (PHAS Colloquium)
    Philip Stamp [Pacific Institute for Theoretical Physics, Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia]
    16 March 2007  - abstract -




2006

78. Cat States and Bose Condensates in Double Well Potentials
    Birgitta Whaley [University of California, Berkeley]
    18 October 2006  - abstract -




79. Linear Optical Quantum Computing, Imaging, and Metrology -- What's New with N00N States?
    Jonathan Dowling [Hearne Institute for Theoretical Physics, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge]
    4 October 2006  - abstract -




80. Einstein, the EPR argument, and Steering: New Perspectives from Quantum Information
    Howard Wiseman [Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, Centre for Quantum Dynamics, School of Science, Griffith University]
    17 August 2006  - abstract -




81. Fault-tolerant architecture for very noisy gates
    Emanuel Knill [NIST]
    7 June 2006  - abstract -




82. Towards optical quantum computation with realistic devices
    Terry Rudolph [Imperial College, London]
    19 April 2006  - abstract -




83. Observing and manipulating quantum information: some experiments with photons and atoms.
    Aephraim Steinberg [CQIQC, University of Toronto]
    23 February 2006  - abstract -




2005

84. Towards Long-Distance Quantum Communication.
    Wolfgang Tittel [ Group of Applied Physics (GAP)-Optique, Université de Genèe, Switzerland]
    13 July 2005  - abstract -




85. Practical Quantum Cryptography
    Alexei Trifonov [Chief Scientist and Vice-President Research and Development MagiQ Technologies Inc., Boston, USA]
    6 July 2005  - abstract -




86. Optical quantum computing: science-fiction, horror-story or news?
    Andrew White [Program Manager, Centre for Quantum Computer Technology and Faculty Member, Centre for Biophotonics and Laser Science, The University of Queensland, Australia]
    17 June 2005  - abstract -




87. Quantum Key Distribution
    Norbert Lütkenhaus [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Erlange-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany]
    10 June 2005  - abstract -




88. Quantum Communication and Quantum Computation with Entangled Photons
    Anton Zeilinger [Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Vienna and Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Academy of Sciences]
    4 March 2005  - abstract -




1970

89. TBA
    Alberto Marino [University of Oklahoma]
    Co-sponsored by: Department of Physics and Astronomy
    21 November 1970  - abstract -