Research Frontiers
From safeguarding our digital world with post-quantum cryptography to modeling complex molecular and biological systems, we are bridging the gap between quantum phenomena and real-world impact. Schmidt College of Science researchers are defining the mathematical proofs, secure communication networks, and advanced materials needed to solve today鈥檚 most intractable problems, turning quantum theory into the foundation of tomorrow鈥檚 discovery.
Quantum Annealing and Combinatorial Optimization
Application of quantum annealing hardware (D-Wave Advantage) to high-dimensional combinatorial and discrete optimization problems across molecular biology, cryptography, neuroscience, and urban systems. Key projects include the Q-TAPERSS algorithm for RNA conformational search, QUBO formulations of lattice and code-based decoding problems in post-quantum cryptography, Ising-model approaches to biological network learning and neural manifold analysis, and quantum-enhanced optimization of transportation and emergency-response infrastructure.
Quantum Materials and Devices
Experimental and theoretical investigation of novel quantum phases and low-dimensional quantum systems for future quantum device applications. Research encompasses disorder and transport in complex solids, quantum entanglement in strongly interacting phases, ultracold atomic platforms as controllable quantum simulators, and the development of new quantum materials as building blocks for quantum hardware.
Design and rigorous analysis of cryptographic systems resistant to quantum attack, with emphasis on lattice-based, code-based, and isogeny-based constructions. Research activities include the development of quantum-safe encryption schemes, digital signature schemes, zero-knowledge proof systems, and experimental investigation of hardness assumptions (SVP, CVP, syndrome decoding) using quantum annealing and quantum simulators.听
Quantum Communication and Networks
Research on secure quantum communication systems combining fundamental physics with practical engineering. Highlights include drone-based mobile quantum communication networks using free-space optical links, single-photon transmission, and quantum key distribution; development of international standards for quantum random number generators; and quantum-enabled secure communications leveraging photon entanglement.听
Research in molecular spectroscopy within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry provides high-resolution experimental access to quantum structure and dynamics in molecular systems. This work is integrated with machine learning approaches to enable spectral inversion, parameter estimation, and data-driven modeling of complex systems. By learning mappings between observed spectra and underlying molecular or quantum properties, these methods support real-time interpretation of experimental data, accelerate simulation workflows, and improve system identification.
Together, these efforts contribute to key areas of quantum science, including quantum sensing, Hamiltonian learning, and hybrid quantum-classical simulation, advancing scalable, data-centric approaches to quantum discovery and AI-assisted experimentation.
This cross-disciplinary research applies quantum and hybrid classical-quantum algorithms to computationally demanding problems across earth systems, biological sciences, urban planning, neuroscience, and the social sciences. Projects include quantum-enhanced hurricane inland footprint modeling, wildfire and forest landscape simulation optimization, and the probabilistic resilience assessment of interdependent urban infrastructure. The research further extends into Quantum Biology, exploring bioenergetics and photosynthetic energy transfer to understand how nature optimizes energy at the atomic scale. Additional efforts include quantum thermodynamics experiments with single trapped ions as microscopic quantum engines, as well as the application of quantum formalism to model the dynamics of human judgments, social influence, and social change鈥攊ncluding experimental research on the human capacity to generate random series.