[Pl-seminar] Seminar: Charles Yuan on Building the Tools to Program a Quantum Computer

[Cameron Moy]

Where: WVH 366
When: Tuesday, May 14 (12:30-1:30)
Speaker Charles Yuan, MIT
Title: Building the Tools to Program a Quantum Computer
Abstract:
Bringing the promise of quantum computation into reality requires not only
building a quantum computer but also correctly programming it to run a
quantum algorithm. To obtain asymptotic advantage over classical
algorithms, quantum algorithms rely on the ability of data in quantum
superposition to exhibit phenomena such as interference and entanglement.
In turn, an implementation of the algorithm as a program must correctly
orchestrate these phenomena in the states of qubits. Otherwise, the
algorithm would yield incorrect outputs or lose its computational advantage.

Given a quantum algorithm, what are the challenges and costs to realizing
it as an executable program? In this talk, I answer this question by
showing how basic programming abstractions – such as data structures and
control flow – upon which many quantum algorithms rely can fail to work
correctly or efficiently on a quantum computer. I then show how we can
leverage insights from programming languages to re-invent these
abstractions to meet the demands of quantum algorithms. This approach holds
out a promise of expressive and efficient tools for programming a quantum
computer.
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