Speaker: K. Rajibul Islam, University of Waterloo

Host: Chandan Setty

Title: Quantum Simulation with Trapped Ions

Abstract: While large-scale, error-corrected quantum computing remains a formidable long-term goal, quantum simulators are already reaching an exciting stage of development. Because these purpose-built processors are themselves quantum, one quantum system can be engineered to mimic another, rather than relying on a classical computer to implement the rules of quantum mechanics and track the evolution of a complex quantum state.

This opens a path to studying interacting quantum systems across a remarkably broad range of physics—from understanding how magnetism emerges from many quantum particles, to simulating chemical processes relevant to new materials and catalysts, to exploring models inspired by high-energy physics. Trapped ions provide a particularly controllable platform for this purpose: individual atoms can be isolated, cooled to near absolute zero, and manipulated with lasers to engineer interactions whose strength, sign, and range can be tuned.

But quantum simulators need not only reproduce systems that occur in nature. They can also be used to design artificial quantum worlds in which the interactions, environment, and even measurements are chosen by us. Open and monitored quantum systems provide examples of this broader direction, where controlled coupling to the environment or measuring parts of a quantum system while it evolves can become an essential part of the physics.

In this talk, I will introduce quantum simulation with trapped ions and describe our group's efforts to develop the experimental tools needed to explore these new regimes. More broadly, I will discuss how programmable quantum systems can serve not only as tools for solving difficult problems, but also as laboratories for discovering quantum states and phenomena with no known counterpart in nature.

Bio: Dr. Rajibul Islam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he leads the Laboratory for Quantum Information with Trapped Ions at the Institute for Quantum Computing. His research focuses on developing trapped-ion quantum processors and experimentally simulating interacting quantum many-particle systems. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and conducted postdoctoral research at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Islam co-founded Open Quantum Design, a nonprofit organization developing open-source quantum computing technologies, and Lightflow, a startup company developing software for designing optical circuit boards. He has received an Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario and the University of Waterloo’s Excellence in Science Teaching Award and was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society for contributions to science education and popularization.