News
Argonne’s 2021 Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellows bring new energy, promise to their fields
Argonne National Laboratory
March 23, 2021
The Fellows are conducting a wide variety of studies in several different areas, including two in quantum information science alongside some of Argonne’s most accomplished researchers. The early career scientists will study quantum science topics including quantum bit synthesis via ultrathin layered materials and quantum computing limitations and error.
Bacteria know how to exploit quantum mechanics, UChicago study finds
University of Chicago
March 9, 2021
Photosynthetic organisms harvest light from the sun to produce the energy they need to survive. A new paper published by University of Chicago researchers reveals their secret: exploiting quantum mechanics. The scientists studied a type of microorganism called green sulfur bacteria. These bacteria need light to survive, but even small amounts of oxygen can damage their delicate photosynthetic equipment. So they must develop ways to minimize the damage when the bacterium does encounter oxygen.
Cheap, nontoxic carbon nanodots poised to be quantum dots of the future
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
March 9, 2021
Tiny fluorescent semiconductor dots, called quantum dots, are useful in a variety of health and electronic technologies but are made of toxic, expensive metals. Nontoxic and economic carbon-based dots are easy to produce, but they emit less light. A new study including researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign uses ultrafast nanometric imaging found good and bad emitters among populations of carbon dots.
Scientists design artificial sound crystal to bring heat under control
Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center
March 9, 2021
In the October issue of Nature Communications, a team of IQUIST researchers led by Kejie Fang, Assistant Professor in Electric and Computer Engineering, present a new method for efficiently trapping phonons inside a fabricated device. Their design reduces heating by keeping some phonons stuck in place while redirecting others, and the heat they carry, to a completely different part of the device.
For first time, researchers send entangled qubit states through a communication channel
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Feb. 24, 2021
In a breakthrough for quantum computing, University of Chicago researchers have sent entangled qubit states through a communication cable linking one quantum network node to a second node. The researchers, based in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago, also amplified an entangled state via the same cable first by using the cable to entangle two qubits in each of two nodes, then entangling these qubits further with other qubits in the nodes.
UW-Madison researcher Victor Brar awarded prestigious Sloan Fellowship
University of Wisconsin-Madison
February 16, 2021
University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor Victor Brar has been named a 2021 Sloan Research Fellow, a competitive award given to researchers in the early stages of their careers. Brar’s research focuses on developing new microscopy techniques to look at quantum systems in ways that current microscopes cannot. Applying these techniques to study defects in materials — where a perfect crystal lattice is disrupted by one or more anomalous atoms — could lead to improvements in quantum computer performance or the discovery of new physics.
UChicago researcher Hannes Bernien named Sloan Research Fellow
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
February 16, 2021
Asst. Prof. Hannes Bernien has received a prestigious 2021 Sloan Research Fellowship. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships honor early-career U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation, and research have the potential to make significant contributions to their fields. Each year, only 128 are chosen to receive a fellowship from more than 1,000 nominees.
UChicago researchers present seven papers at major quantum theory conference
UChicago Department of Computer Science
February 5, 2021
This year, the excellence of work by quantum researchers at University of Chicago was recognized at international Conference on Quantum Information Processing, which accepted an impressive seven talks with UChicago authors. The presented research spanned not only several different thrusts of quantum research at UChicago, but also multiple units, including the Department of Computer Science and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
UChicago Certificate supports transition to quantum careers
Chicago Quantum Exchange
January 25, 2020
Last fall, the Chicago Quantum Exchange launched the inaugural session of a new Certificate Program in Quantum Engineering and Technology. The initial session of the four-day intensive program, which is taught by faculty from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, brought together 34 career scientists and engineers seeking a deeper understanding of the basics of quantum information science and its applications. A second session is planned for April 2021.
Quantum compiler co-created by Robert Rand named distinguished paper at POPL 21
UChicago Department of Computer Science
January 21, 2021
A new compiler, which converts human-readable code to the explicit instructions that computing machinery, classical or quantum, need to operate, received one of seven Distinguished Paper awards this month at the 2021 Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL), one of the top conferences in programming languages research. VOQC, developed by UChicago CS assistant professor Robert Rand and collaborators at the University of Maryland, is the first verified quantum optimizer — a tool for rewriting programs to make them faster while guaranteeing that the program’s meaning is preserved.
Pivotal discovery in quantum and classical information processing
Argonne National Laboratory
January 13, 2021
Working with theorists in the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, researchers in the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have achieved a scientific control that is a first of its kind. They demonstrated a novel approach that allows real-time control of the interactions between microwave photons and magnons, potentially leading to advances in electronic devices and quantum signal processing.
Bill Fefferman receives NSF CAREER Award to find quantum computing’s icebreaker
UChicago Computer Science Department
December 30, 2020
Despite incredible promise, the quantum architectures available today remain limited in scale and handicapped by error and noise, falling short thus far of the killer app that would launch a new era of computing. With a new NSF CAREER Award, UChicago Computer Science Assistant Professor Bill Fefferman will pursue the theory and algorithms needed to leap this hurdle.
At the Chicago Quantum Exchange in 2020: A Year in Review
Chicago Quantum Exchange
December 18, 2020
Quantum information science had a banner year in the U.S. with federal agencies awarding more than $700M to support large-scale scientific endeavors, significant advancements in quantum information science, and the launch of programs that will help the nation retain global leadership in this critical field. During 2020, Chicago Quantum Exchange members and scientists were awarded new federal centers and institutes, made advances in quantum science, added 13 new corporate partners, and initiated new programs to prepare a quantum workforce.
Fermilab and partners achieve sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation
Fermilab
December 15, 2020
This month, scientists at Fermilab, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory, and their partners took a significant step in the direction of realizing a quantum internet.
In a paper published in PRX Quantum, the team presents for the first time a demonstration of a sustained, long-distance (44 kilometers of fiber) teleportation of qubits of photons (quanta of light) with fidelity greater than 90%. The qubits were teleported over a fiber-optic network using state-of-the-art single-photon detectors and off-the-shelf equipment.
New analysis paves way for more sensitive quantum sensors
UChicago News
November 30, 2020
New theoretical quantum sensing research at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering harnesses non-Hermitian dynamics to develop a new type of quantum sensor that has the potential to be exponentially more sensitive than extant technology. Researchers hope to eventually employ quantum sensors to uses like disease diagnosis and earthquake detection, and the new research presents a way to build more efficient and powerful sensors for a variety of applications.
Chicago Quantum Summit highlights new U.S. quantum centers, economic opportunities
Chicago Quantum Exchange
November 23, 2020
The third annual Chicago Quantum Summit, hosted virtually at the University of Chicago Nov. 11-13 by the Chicago Quantum Exchange, brought together more than 20 speakers from across the nation and attracted more than 1,000 attendees from 42 countries. This year’s summit comes on the heels of the announcement of five new U.S. Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science Research Centers and three new National Science Foundation Quantum Leap Challenge Institutes, authorized by the National Quantum Initiative Act.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at UChicago event about impact of quantum research
UChicago News
November 20, 2020
On Nov. 12, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker joined Juan de Pablo, UChicago VP for National Laboratories, Science Strategy, Innovation, and Global Initiatives for a fireside chat on the potential impact of quantum science on the regional economy on Nov. 12. The discussion was part of the Chicago Quantum Summit, a three-day event hosted virtually at the University of Chicago where experts discussed the future of quantum information science and technology, developing a quantum workforce, and the applications of emerging QIS research.
In new step toward quantum tech, scientists synthesize ‘bright’ quantum bits
University of Chicago, Northwestern University
November 12, 2020
An interdisciplinary team of physicists and chemists at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University has developed a new method to create tailor-made qubits: by chemically synthesizing molecules that encode quantum information into their magnetic, or “spin,” states.
Chicago Quantum Exchange welcomes six new partners focused on advancing research, building a quantum economy
Chicago Quantum Exchange
November 13, 2020
The leading quantum research hub expands to include more than 20 partners, including additional Chicago-based organizations. New partners include Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), Hamamatsu Photonics, Protiviti, Quantum Machines, and Super.tech. The Chicago Quantum Exchange has also partnered with P33, a private sector led non-profit dedicated to driving innovation leadership for the Chicago region.
Pritzker says state will make good on $200M research investment
Crain’s Chicago Business
November 12, 2020
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker spoke today at the Chicago Quantum Summit, where he said that despite looming budget challenges made worse by the coronavirus and voters’ rejection of new income-tax plan, the state will make good on its commitment to provide $200 million for quantum computing research at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Quantum Computing: A Bubble Ready to Burst?
PC Magazine
November 12, 2020
David Awschalom, UChicago and Argonne scientist and Chicago Quantum Exchange director, shares information about Argonne’s quantum loop testbed and discusses what the future might hold for quantum computing.
UChicago scientists turn IBM computer into a quantum material
University of Chicago
November 12, 2020
Scientists from the University of UChicago Physical Science Division programmed an IBM quantum computer to become a type of material called an exciton condensate. The pioneering experiment could help design energy-efficient materials
Fermilab is partner in Quantum Science Center based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Fermilab News
November 9, 2020
Fermilab is a partner in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Quantum Science Center, which hopes to develop a fundamentally new kind of qubit that could lead to next-generation quantum computers with vastly improved capabilities. The partnership will advance research in the design of topological qubits, the exploration of exotic quantum materials, and the development of an electronic quantum simulator that can run in extreme conditions.
Scientists launch quest to develop quantum sensors for probing quantum materials
Phys.Org
October 28, 2020
The new Center for Quantum Sensing and Quantum Materials, based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will develop and apply quantum sensing methods to study quantum materials. The Center is highly collaborative and will include experts from UIUC, the SLAC National Laboratory, Stanford University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Catalyst Conversations: Launching a Pioneering Quantum Startup
Illinois Science and Technology Coalition
October 27, 2020
Super.tech, a company founded by Pravav Gokhalean, doctoral student at UChicago CS, joined the quantum computing startup ecosystem with the mission of creating a multilayer full-stack architecture for quantum computing. In this Catalyst Conversation, we hear from Gokhalean about quantum startups and more.