EPSCoR Research Fellows: NSF: Quantum algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers

This EPSCoR Research Fellows project will provide a fellowship to an Assistant Professor and training for a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Dakota (UND). This work will be conducted in collaboration with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop new algorithms and strategies towards solving useful problems in quantum chemistry using upcoming quantum computers.

Quantum computers exploit quantum mechanical properties to carry out computational tasks and are expected to provide massive computational advantages in problems of importance in drug design, material discovery, machine learning, etc. With rapid progress in quantum computing hardware in recent years, the project aims to develop algorithms and strategies that can take advantage of the upcoming quantum devices and explore the benefits of quantum computers over traditional classical computers in quantum chemistry problems.

This collaboration also provides expertise and computing tools that support the PI’s vision of creating a successful quantum information science and technology research group at UND, along with strengthening STEM education in the Red River Valley region.

This project develops new quantum algorithms aimed at early-fault-tolerant quantum computers with wide-ranging applications in quantum chemistry. Rapid developments in quantum hardware present an exciting opportunity for accurate simulation of challenging and important strongly correlated problems in quantum chemistry, that are out of reach of classical computers.

Towards this goal, the project will develop new hybrid algorithmic schemes that bring the benefits of both optimization-based variational quantum algorithms and optimization-free algorithms developed for quantum computers. Further, the project develops an end-to-end software pipeline for rapid benchmarking of quantum algorithms for useful molecular problems.

The PI will benefit from the expertise of the host in specialized optimization-free quantum algorithms and large-scale quantum chemistry software development, which will support a long-term collaboration along with developing expertise of essential software infrastructure and theoretical tools towards the establishment of a successful research program at UND. The developments in this project also help in course creation and training efforts to support the PI’s long-term quantum information science and technology educational goals in the Red River Valley region.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.