Overview
Caltech hosts a world-leading research center in quantum information and computation, the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM). Within the CMS department, faculty work on the theoretical aspects of quantum computing, including complexity theory, cryptography, algorithms, benchmarking, and error correction. Fernando Brandao has designed faster quantum algorithms for linear algebra and optimization problems. Alexei Kitaev is one of the founders of the field of quantum information science. Urmila Mahadev has established landmark results regarding the classical verification of quantum computation, and is interested in problems at the intersection of quantum computation and cryptography. John Preskill has established and explored deep connections relating quantum information science to condensed matter physics and quantum gravity. Leonard Schulman has done foundational work in quantum algorithms and complexity. Joel Tropp has established new techniques for performing efficient shadow tomography, a method that constructs small but effective classical descriptions of quantum states. Thomas Vidick is known for his work in quantum complexity and cryptography, particularly in studying the power of quantum interactive proofs.
We collaborate with a large group of students and postdoctoral scholars across the CMS, Mathematics, and Physics departments, working on all aspects of quantum computation, from the theory to implementations through the design of error-correcting codes. In addition, Caltech hosts a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) aimed toward the realization of a full-fledged quantum computer.