Our Research
Over the past two decades there has been transformative growth in available experimental platforms with control over single atoms, molecules, spins, or photons. There are now quantum computing systems with neutral atoms in tweezer arrays and superconducting circuits that have single-particle control of hundreds of qubits, and related high-precision systems with trapped ions and solid state spins. These systems present both opportunities and challenges for theoretical physics. The opportunities come because we can explore physical phenomena that were previously inaccessible, especially asking major questions about out of equilibrium dynamics, and strongly interacting many-particle systems. The challenges come in understanding how to control noise and decoherence, how to enter and verify regimes of quantum advantage over classical computation, and how to apply these systems to the most interesting computational problems in science and beyond.
Our theory team uses analytical and numerical techniques to explore the opportunities and address challenges set by these experiments. Our primary aims are (1) to explore novel physical phenomena that can be studied in these experiments, motivated by new experimental techniques and opportunities, and (2) to set a roadmap for experiments, providing new potential architectures and applications for quantum computing and quantum simulation of many-body systems. We also work directly with experimental teams locally, nationally, and internationally to realise parts of this roadmap, and directly model what is seen in the laboratory.