Associate Professor David Earl Roberson receives a grant of DKK 5 mill from The Carlsberg Foundation to investigate a fundamental phenomenon in quantum graph theory.
The expectations for quantum computers are enormous. The technology will be able to solve practical problems that no classical computer can and thus revolutionize our society with applications within e.g. cryptography, communication, materials science, and medicine. However, some of the fundamental phenomena responsible for the power of quantum computers, e.g. entanglement, are still poorly understood.
With the award of the Carlsberg Young Researcher Fellowship, Associate Professor David Earl Roberson from the Section for Algorithms, Logic and Graphs at DTU Compute will receive DDK 5 million to research and develop the nascent field of quantum graph theory. The grant will make it possible to hire a PhD student and two postdocs.
"I am very grateful for the grant from The Carlsberg Foundation because it is such a prestigious grant. I am excited to have the opportunity to build my own research group, and I look forward to working on the project," says David Earl Roberson.
Quantum entanglement
Quantum entanglement is a fundamental resource in the rapidly developing fields of quantum information and computation. However, we still do not have a complete understanding of this phenomenon. In the project, David and his team hope to bring new insights into this enigmatic phenomenon.
The project centers around a task where two parties employ quantum entanglement to convince a third that two given networks, also known as "graphs", have the same structure. Whenever this is possible, the graphs are said to be "quantum isomorphic".
"We hope our project will lead to new breakthroughs in areas where progress has slowed or halted."
Associate Professor David Earl Roberson
The project will use quantum isomorphism to develop deep connections between quantum information theory, combinatorics, and noncommutative mathematics and shed new light on this phenomenon, and provide new tools for understanding and making use of entanglement.
Conversely, these connections will provide novel perspectives on problems in discrete mathematics and noncommutative mathematics, and will allow us to transfer techniques between these fields.
“We hope our project will lead to new breakthroughs in areas where progress has slowed or halted,” says David Earl Roberson.
The project starts on September 1, 2022.