R e s e a r c h   G r o u p
Computational Quantum Science

Welcome to the pages of our Computational Quantum Science research group! Our research covers various aspects of complex quantum systems, especially non-equilibrium settings. We have a strong focus on the development of computational methods that leverage the latest developments in machine learning for this purpose. Our group is part of PGI-8 at FZ Jülich and the FIDS at the University of Regensburg.

News

November 9, 2023

Observing fluctuation relations on a quantum processor

Jarzynski’s equality describes a relation in statistical physics between the fluctuations during a work process and the thermal free energy difference corresponding to the initial and final ensemble. While Jarzynski’s equality has been checked in many scenarios, previous experiments focused on systems with only a handful of degrees of freedom in the quantum regime. In our collaboration with colleagues at MPI PKS, the University of Bonn, and UC Berkeley/LBNL, we probed for the first time Jarzynski’s equality in the quantum many-body regime. We devise a dynamical protocol to measure work on quantum computers using a suitably prepared thermal ensemble and tested Jarzynski’s equality on different quantum processors with up to 16 qubits. The article has now been published in Phys. Rev. X.

October 20, 2023

Combined school and conference at ICTP

Together with colleagues from Hamburg, Waterloo, and Augsburg, we are organizing a school and conference “Frontiers at the intersection of quantum simulation and machine learning” to be held from Apr 8 to 19 2024 at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste. This will be the first event at ICTP co-sponsored by the WE Heraeus Foundation. More detailed information will follow soon on the event website.

August 1, 2023

Jonas joins us as a Postdoc

Our group keeps growing and today is Jonas Rigo’s first day as a Postdoc. Welcome, Jonas!

July 27, 2023

Simulating spectral functions with NQS

We developed a new approach to simulate spectral functions using neural quantum states, which for example accurately captures the gap closing at the phase transition of a two-dimensional quantum magnet despite the associated diverging time scale. The paper appeared today in Phys. Rev. Lett.!

June 1, 2023

Mo graduated and continues to pursue a PhD

Last week, Mo Abedi successfully defended his Master’s thesis and he will stay with us to pursue his PhD. In his research, he will continue to develop Reinforcement Learning approaches for optimal quantum control. Congratulations, Mo!

May 8, 2023

Francesca joined

Today, Francesca de Franco joined our group as a new PhD student. She will explore how one can use near-term quantum devices to study many-body physics. Welcome Francesca!

March 13, 2023

Tutorial and Focus Session at DPG Spring Meeting

For ML+Quantum Physics enthusiasts and all those who would like to learn about it, we are organizing a Tutorial Session “Physics Meets Machine Learning” and a Focus Session “Machine Learning for Complex Quantum Systems” at the DPG Spring Meeting in Dresden. There will also be another Focus Session on “Understanding Machine Learning as Complex Interacting Systems”. All these sessions promise to be very interesting with great invited speakers – so come by!

December 15, 2022

We're hiring!

Our group is expanding and we are currently looking to fill several Postdoc/PhD positions. One job ad is already posted on the FZJ job portal. To learn about further opportunities, just contact Markus.

Update: All positions were filled in the meantime.

December 6, 2022

Qiskit Seminar on exploring the Jarzynski relation on a quantum computer

Last week, Dominik Hahn (MPI PKS) presented the outcomes of our collaboration on the quantum many-body Jarzynski equality in the Qiskit Seminar Series. The recording is available on youtube.

October 29, 2022

Quantum ideas factory

During the next two days Markus will mentor a team of talented students and young researchers, who will tackle the quantum control problem with reinforcement learning approaches at the scientific hackathon of the Quantum Ideas Factory 2022 in Heidelberg. Thanks to Mo for the help to set up the challenge. That’s going to be fun!

September 16, 2022

Paper on quantum phase transition dynamics published

Our work on phase transition dynamics in the two-dimensional quantum Ising model appeared today in Science Advances. Following up on it, an article for non-experts appeared on pro-physik.de.

September 12, 2022

Wladislaw Krinitsin joined

Today, Wladislaw Krinitsin joined our group as a new PhD student. He will work on neural quantum states for non-equilibrium dynamics. Welcome Wladi!

September 1, 2022

Helmholtz Young Investigator group started

Today, we are launching our Helmholtz Young Investigator Group “Machine Learning for Quantum Technology” at PGI-8 (FZ Jülich). Within this project we are going to develop machine learning techniques for the advancement of quantum technologies with a focus on two promising applications: On the one hand, we will employ neural quantum states for simulations of non-equilibrium quantum matter, and, on the other hand, we will develop a versatile framework for optimal quantum control based on reinforcement learning.