Cray Distinguished Speaker: How to Build a Quantum Computer

The computer science colloquium takes place on Mondays from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This week's speaker, Kenneth Brown (Duke University), will be giving a talk titled "How to Build a Quantum Computer."

Abstract

Quantum computers promise to transform scientific computation by taking advantage of the rules of quantum mechanics to achieve an algorithmic speedup. Quantum computers remain difficult to build and in this talk I will examine the current state of the art in industry, academia, and national laboratories.  I will then discuss how these different groups can work together to build these devices. I will conclude with a discussion of the quantum computers we have built at the Duke Quantum Center and the next generation quantum computer we plan to build as part of the NSF National Quantum Virtual Laboratory.

Biography

Kenneth Brown is the Michael J. Fitzpatrick Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry at Duke University.  He is an expert in quantum information science and engineering, and he uses the control of quantum systems to develop new technologies and understand the natural world. His research interests are ion trap quantum computers and quantum error correction. He serves on the American Physical Society Council of Representatives for the Division of Quantum Information. He was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Kavli Fellow, and an Experienced Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for his work in quantum information. He is a scientific advisor for IonQ.