Spin networks engineering for quantum technology applications

Quantum information technologies can provide advantage and new capabilities, compared to their conventional IT counterparts, in the areas of computing, communications, sensing and imaging. For computing and communications, spin networks provide a generic theoretical framework for investigating a wide range of physical implementations of hardware, that can transfer quantum states, create and distribute entanglement, and support other quantum information processes.

These are crucial protocols that underpin a range of quantum computing and communication tasks, to support new quantum technologies.

This research will investigate theoretically and model state transfer, entanglement generation and quantum gates in spin networks, with the objective of producing practical, high-fidelity processes that could be implemented in various physical systems. The work will utilise various techniques, including genetic algorithms, Hamiltonian reconstruction from desirable spectra, and unitary transformations to design and model novel networks for quantum information tasks.

Quantum technologies have been recognised for a decade as a key research area by EPSRC. With STFC and IUK, they are the UKRI stakeholders in the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP), which was established in 2014 and is about to begin a third five-year phase. (For the latest UK National Quantum Strategy, see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-quantum-strategy .) The research proposed in this PhD project aligns very strongly with the objectives of the UK NQTP.