Software and algorithms for enabling noise-aware quantum computation on near-term devices

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Quantum computing is an interdisciplinary field that is developing a new type of computing device based on a quantum system called a qubit. Quantum computers (QCs) will soon solve problems that are intractable for regular computers at a large scale, such as simulating chemical reactions, searching through large spaces, and optimizing industrial processes. Numerous QCs with 50-60 usable qubits are now available, which is a significant development, but far from the thousands to millions of qubits needed to solve "life-sized" problems. Building QCs is a major engineering challenge; building high-quality ones in a scalable manner even more so. Qubits are extremely noisy due to their high sensitivity to external effects. Any interaction with the environment, such as thermal energy, material defects, or simply the presence of a nearby qubit being manipulated, can lead to decoherence of a qubit's state, rendering it unusable for computation until it is reset. Until more precise control becomes possible and measures such as error-correction can be implemented, it is critical that our algorithms are designed to make the best use of today's devices despite the presence of noise. The goal of my research program is to develop and apply new software and characterization techniques to mitigate and adapt to noise in QCs. Specifically, my team will: i) design and implement noise-aware techniques for compiling quantum algorithms to run on hardware, ii) improve and extend quantum tomography methods to characterize noise, and leverage them to support the development of novel quantum hardware at UBC, and iii) use these results to design robust quantum algorithms for such state-of-the-art devices. We will accomplish this by implementing and benchmarking our methods with open-source quantum programming frameworks, running on both regular computers and on quantum hardware. Furthermore, we will contribute our methods back to the community through open-source software and open-access research results. The innovative techniques developed in my program will lead to improved software and algorithms for general-purpose QCs, as well as algorithms tailored to UBC's in-house hardware. This work is critical to demonstrate the utility of QCs built over the upcoming decade, and paves the way for future generations of quantum hardware. This work will be carried out by a newly-assembled group of diverse and interdisciplinary student researchers, in collaboration with myself and other UBC faculty members working on quantum software and hardware. Over the next five years, I intend to train 3 PhD students, 2 MSc students, and 6 undergraduates. Their academic work will be augmented by industry internships and participation in educational opportunities and public outreach, in order to prepare them for careers in the growing quantum computing ecosystem in Canada and beyond.