QSE Quantum Seminars: 'Quantum Walks' and 'Biasing the quantum vacuum to control macroscopic probability distributions'

Please join us for two QSE Center Quantum Seminars, with Franklin de Lima Marquezino from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Yannick Salamin from the University of Central Florida on Wednesday July 24.

Prof de Lima Marquezino will give the talk "An overview of quantum walks", and Prof. Salamin will give the talk "Biasing the quantum vacuum to control macroscopic probability distributions".
Location: CE 1 104
11:00 - 12:00: "An overview of quantum walks"
12:00 - 12:30: Pizza lunch
12:30 - 13:30: "Biasing the quantum vacuum to control macroscopic probability distributions"

Pizzas will be available between the seminars at 12:00. All PhDs, postdocs, students, and PIs are welcome to join us.

----

TITLE: An overview of quantum walks, Franklin de Lima Marquezino

ABSTRACT: A quantum walk is a quantum mechanical process analogous to a classical random walk, where a quantum particle evolves in discrete or continuous steps according to quantum superposition and interference effects, potentially leading to unique and non-intuitive probabilistic behaviors. In the realm of quantum walks, diverse models exist to characterize the behavior of quantum particles. This talk will focus on elucidating the most prevalent among them, including continuous-time, coined, Szegedy, and Staggered Quantum Walks. I will address how they can be classically simulated and how some simple instances can be executed on real quantum computers. I will also highlight some algorithmic applications.

BIO: Franklin Marquezino received his doctoral degree in Computer Modelling from the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing in 2010, earning the prestigious CAPES Thesis Award for the best doctoral thesis in the Interdisciplinary Area across Brazil. Currently, he is a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for Quantum Computing Science at the University of Latvia and holds a position as an Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, from which he is on temporary leave. Marquezino is a co-author of the book "A Primer on Quantum Computing," published by Springer, and serves on the Editorial Board of Theoretical Computer Science, overseeing articles in Track C, "Natural Computation." He remains active in the field of theoretical quantum computing, with a focus on algorithms and quantum walks. His current research seeks to understand the capabilities of quantum physics systems in solving computational problems, with particular interest in quantum algorithms, quantum walks, and their connections to graph theory.

-----

TITLE: Biasing the quantum vacuum to control macroscopic probability distributions, Yannick Salamin

ABSTRACT: Quantum field theory reveals that even in the vacuum state, electromagnetic fields must fluctuate, leading to phenomena such as spontaneous emission, the Lamb shift, and the Casimir effect. While these vacuum fluctuations have been utilized as a source of perfect randomness, controlling their probability distribution on photonic platforms has remained elusive. I will present a novel approach to generating biased quantum randomness by injecting vacuum-level bias fields into a multi-stable optical system, specifically an optical parametric oscillator. By manipulating the probabilities associated with the system's output states using bias pulses, we demonstrate a controllable photonic probabilistic bit. I will delve into the underlying physics of this process and share recent findings that highlight potential applications in photonic computing and the sensing of intracavity quantum states and weak fields.

BIO: Yannick Salamin is an incoming Assistant Professor in the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT, where his research focused on complex light-matter interactions in multistable and multimodal systems, with applications in optical computing and spectroscopy. Dr. Salamin earned his Dr.Sc. from ETH Zurich, where he developed integrated plasmonic platforms for efficient nonlinear and optoelectronic devices. He received the ETH Medal for outstanding thesis, the 2021 ABB Research Prize, and was awarded a SNSF Early Post-Doc Mobility fellowship.