NSF QCIS-FF: Columbia University Computer Science Department Proposal

我们都意识到，在过去的几十年里，计算革命已经以深刻的方式改变了我们的世界，但是许多期望的计算应用——具有巨大的潜在重要性和实用性——完全超出了当今计算机系统的能力。这是因为对于计算机科学中的许多核心问题，可以解决这些问题的已知最快的计算机程序的运行时间或存储需求随着输入大小的增加而过快扩展（指数与线性或多项式相反）；更糟糕的是，人们普遍认为，今天的传统计算机系统根本不存在更快的程序。量子计算提供了一种全新的、截然不同的方法的可能性。关键的前提是，通过利用量子力学特性，在某些情况下，量子计算机可以同时处理指数数量的叠加状态，从而（在某种意义上）在巨大的搜索空间上执行并行操作，而这对于经典计算机来说是根本不可能的。在这种令人兴奋的可能性的激励下，哥伦比亚大学工程与应用科学学院（SEAS）启动了“哥伦比亚量子倡议”，这是一项雄心勃勃的多年计划，旨在在哥伦比亚大学建立一个跨越量子科学和技术多个方面的卓越中心，利用哥伦比亚大学长期以来在密切相关主题上的世界级研究和教育项目。量子计划的一个中心目标是在未来几年内招募六名或更多的终身/终身教职员工，他们的主要研究兴趣是量子计算、通信、传感、材料、设备和技术领域，量子计划的近期目标是在量子计算领域雇用两名终身/终身教职员工。作为量子计划的一部分，该奖项将为专门从事量子计算研究的教职员工创造一个终身/终身职位，无论是在计算机科学系，还是作为计算机科学与应用物理/应用数学、电气工程或工业工程和运筹学等第二系之间的跨学科联合招聘。核心计算机科学招聘是必要的，以提供量子技术关键计算方面的专业知识基础，如量子算法、量子编程方法和量子计算机架构，而跨学科招聘将发挥关键的桥梁作用，确保整个团队的电气工程师、应用物理学家、来自其他领域的研究人员和量子计算研究人员组成的量子计划能够有效地协同工作。在哥伦比亚大学海洋学院的智力生态系统中增加量子计算教师将大大扩大教育产品，以培养哥伦比亚大学学生在一系列与量子技术发展相关的学科。这些技术有可能对科学和社会的许多方面产生广泛的、尚未预见的影响。凭借其在计算机科学和相关学科领域的大量优秀学生，哥伦比亚大学量子计算专业的师资队伍增长具有巨大的潜力，可以通过教育产生更广泛的影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

All of us are aware that the computing revolution has changed our world in profound ways over the past several decades, but many desired applications of computing -- of great potential importance and utility -- are simply beyond the capabilities of today's computer systems. This is because for many central problems in computer science, the fastest known computer programs that can solve these problems have running time or storage requirements that scale too quickly with increasing input sizes (exponentially as opposed to linearly or polynomially); even worse, it is widely believed that faster programs for today's conventional computer systems simply cannot exist. Quantum computing offers the possibility of a new and dramatically different approach. The key premise is that by harnessing quantum mechanical properties, in certain settings it is possible for a quantum computer to simultaneously process an exponentially large number of superimposed states, and thus (in some sense) to perform parallel operations over an enormous search space in a way that is simply impossible for classical computers. Motivated by this exciting possibility, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Columbia University (SEAS) has launched the "Columbia Quantum Initiative," an ambitious multi-year plan to develop a center of excellence at Columbia University spanning multiple aspects of quantum science and technology, leveraging the long-standing world-class research and educational programs at Columbia University on closely related topics. A central goal of the Quantum Initiative is to recruit a half dozen or more tenured/tenure-track faculty over the next few years whose primary research interests are in the areas of quantum computing, communication, sensing, materials, devices and technologies, and a near-term goal of the Quantum Initiative is to hire two tenured/tenure-track faculty members in the area of quantum computing. As part of the Quantum Initiative, this award will enable the creation of a tenured/tenure-track position for a faculty member with research specialization in quantum computing, either in the Computer Science Department or as an interdisciplinary joint hire between Computer Science and a second department such as Applied Physics/Applied Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, or Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. A core Computer Science hire is necessary to provide a solid base of expertise in key computational aspects of quantum technology such as quantum algorithms, quantum programming methodologies, and quantum computer architectures, while an interdisciplinary hire will play a key bridging role in ensuring that the entire team of electrical engineers, applied physicists, researchers from other domains, and quantum computing researchers comprising the Quantum Initiative can work together effectively. The addition of quantum computing faculty to the intellectual ecosystem at Columbia SEAS will greatly expand educational offerings to train students at Columbia University in a range of subjects relevant to the development of quantum technologies. Such technologies have the potential to have broad, as-yet unforeseen impacts on many aspects of science and society. With its large population of outstanding students in Computer Science and associated subject areas, there is great potential for significant broader impact through education via faculty growth in quantum computing at Columbia.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.