Approximating Topological Invariants on a Quantum Computer

Since Peter Shor's 1994 discovery of a fast quantum algorithm for factoring integers, much effort has focused on the search for additional quantum algorithms. This has turned out to be a very difficult task. Today only a few dozen such quantum algorithms are known. Recently, there has been rapid progress in discovering quantum algorithms to estimate topological invariants. In this talk I will discuss my work on finding quantum algorithms for topological invariants, the physical heuristics that led to these discoveries, and the implications of these heuristics for future work. No prior knowledge of quantum algorithms or topological invariants will be assumed.

Speaker Bio: Stephen Jordan received his undergraduate training in Physics at Penn State University, and completed a PhD in Physics at MIT in 2008 on the topic "Quantum Computing Beyond the Circuit Model." He is currently the Sherman Fairchild Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Quantum Information at CalTech. Stephen's recent work has been in the area of quantum algorithms. He is the curator of the Quantum Algorithm Zoo at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~sjordan/zoo.html.

Presentation Slides: PDF

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