Applications of Quantum Information Theory

Quantum information is the study of what quantum mechanics means as a theory of information. Striking, but still incompletely understood, features of the theory include the uncertainty principle, entanglement, quantum cryptography and quantum computing.

The first part of the proposed research will tackle core questions in quantum information theory that have been barriers to its wider applicability. For example: to what extent can the "monogamy" (or non-shareability) of quantum entanglement be used to distinguish it from classical correlation? What does it mean for information in a system to be contained in its short-range or long-range degrees of freedom?

The second part of this research will extend the reach of quantum information theory by developing applications in condensed-matter physics, optimization algorithms and other areas of math and physics. Through progress on the core problems above, this research hopes to develop better simulations of quantum systems, better understanding of how entanglement functions in many-body physics and new algorithms for hard optimization problems. These tools are expected to be of use not only to researchers in quantum information, but to a wide range of physicists and computer scientists.

This research will be done together with a graduate student, who will learn techniques from physics, computer science and mathematics. Additionally, related topics will be integrated into undergraduate teaching.