FRHTP: Center for Quantum Information and Control

量子信息科学(QIS)是20世纪两大科技成就--量子物理学和信息科学--交汇的交叉学科。随之而来的以半导体芯片、激光通信和计算机科学为基础的数字革命为当今信息社会的经济引擎提供了燃料。QIS将推动进入21世纪的第二次量子革命。第二次量子革命将充分利用量子力学(原子世界的物理学)的力量，使用依赖于叠加和纠缠等量子奇怪现象的设备来处理信息，其方式比当今最好的超级计算机和网络安全系统强大得多。由美国国家科学基金会资助的聚焦理论物理研究中心(FRHTP)：量子信息与控制中心(CQuIC)将为基础研究创建一个“理论中心”，为第二次量子革命奠定基础。CQuIC总部设在新墨西哥大学(UNM)，汇集了一支由具有物理、计算机科学、电气工程和化学专业知识的理论家组成的跨学科团队，以及桑迪亚国家实验室、洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室和霍尼韦尔量子解决方案的合作伙伴，以合作、创新和解决QIS中最重要的突出问题。CQuIC将为美国QIS理论界提供一个焦点，以保持其竞争优势。CQuIC将为国家量子倡议(NQI)法案服务，举办专注于共同问题的研讨会，分享经验教训，并在出现僵局时帮助打破僵局，以推动NQI的目标。该中心将对教育和培训至关重要，重点是建立一支多样化和包容性的下一代QIS工作队伍。为了实现这些目标，CQuIC将管理一个获奖的博士后奖学金计划，主办研讨会、研讨会、会议和访客计划，并严格专注于协同研究，将UNM的主要研究人员与其合作机构聚集在一起。这项研究将立足于解决当代QIS中的四大问题：一、量子物质的计算能力是什么？我们如何有效地表示量子系统，这些表示什么时候会导致有效的经典算法？有噪声的中间尺度量子(NISQ)设备可以获得什么量子优势？哪些近期的量子算法和架构可以产生实际效果？博士后研究员将提供“结缔组织”，在资深参与者之间建立桥梁，并为中心带来更多的专业知识。CQuIC的紧密协作环境将为QIS理论社区提供必要的孵化器，共同努力解决重大问题。此外，CQuIC将举办各种中心活动，将社区聚集在一起互动、创造和解决关键问题，并将其与教育、培训和共享教育资源相结合，以帮助培养下一代量子信息科学家。中心活动包括长期举办的斜视年度研讨会，25年来一直致力于在世界级会议上为职业生涯早期的科学家建立社区。CQuIC将创建外展计划，专注于建立多样性，并将传统上代表性不足的群体纳入QIS。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quantum Information Science (QIS) is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of two of the greatest scientific and technical triumphs of the 20th century: quantum physics and information science. The digital revolution that followed, based on semiconductor chips, laser communications, and computer science, has fueled the economic engine of today’s information society. QIS will fuel a second quantum revolution into the 21st century. The second quantum revolution will harness the full power of quantum mechanics (the physics of the atomic world) with devices that rely on quantum-weird phenomena such as superposition and entanglement to process information in ways that are much more powerful than today’s best supercomputers and cybersecurity systems. The Focused Research Hub in Theoretical Physics (FRHTP): Center for Quantum Information and Control (CQuIC) funded in this grant from the NSF will create a “theory hub” for fundamental research that provides the foundation for the second quantum revolution. Housed at the University of New Mexico (UNM), CQuIC brings together an interdisciplinary team of theoreticians with expertise in physics, computer science, electrical engineering, and chemistry, as well as partners at Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Honeywell Quantum Solutions, to collaborate, innovate, and tackle the most important outstanding problems in QIS. CQuIC will provide a focal point for United States QIS-theory community to retain its competitive advantage. CQuIC will serve the National Quantum Initiative (NQI) Act by hosting focused workshops that target common problems, share lessons learned, and help to break logjams when they arise to push forward the goals of the NQI. The hub will be critical for education and training, with a focus on building a diverse and inclusive next-generation QIS workforce.To achieve these goals, CQuIC will administer a prize postdoctoral fellowship program, host seminars, workshops, conferences, and a visitor’s program, and critically focus on synergistic research that brings together the principal investigators at UNM with its partnering institutions. The research will be anchored in tackling four “Big Questions” in contemporary QIS: I. What is the computational power of quantum matter? II. How do we efficiently represent quantum systems, and when do these representations lead to efficient classical algorithms? III. What quantum advantage can be achieved with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices? IV. What near-term quantum algorithms and architectures can yield practical results? Postdoctoral fellows will provide the “connective tissue,” creating bridges between senior participants and bringing additional expertise to the Center. CQuIC’s intensely collaborative environment will provide the necessary incubator for the QIS-theory community to work to together to tackle the Big Questions. In addition, CQuIC will host a variety of hub activities that will bring together the community to interact, create, and tackle critical problems, and integrate this with education, training, and shared educational resources to help develop the next generation of quantum information scientists. Hub activities include the long-running SQuInT Annual Workshop, with a 25-year history of focus on building community for early-career scientists at a world-class conference. CQuIC will create outreach programs that focus on building diversity and inclusion of traditionally underrepresented groups in QIS.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.