Physics Colloquium: Quantum Computing: Introduction and Applications

Thursday, November 1, 2018

3:30 PM-4:30 PM

Max Henderson, PhD, QxBranch

Quantum computing is a highly promising emerging technology that could present significant opportunities for many application areas, including optimization, machine learning, and physical simulation. This presentation will give a brief explanation of the background of the field and technology, with several detailed examples of implementing quantum computing algorithms. Additionally, a focus of this talk will be "cutting through the hype" of quantum computing, dispelling common myths, and painting a picture for what to expect out of quantum computing in the noisy, intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) computing era.

Technical links:

• Henderson et al. 2018, "Leveraging Adiabatic Quantum Computation for Election Forecasting": https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.00069
• Adachi and Henderson 2015: "Application of Quantum Annealing to Training of Deep Neural Networks"

Non-technical links:

• Cosmos Magazine, "Schrodinger for Prez? Quantum models may solve inaccurate election predictions": https://cosmosmagazine.com/society/schrodinger-for-prez-quantum-models-may-solve-inaccurate-election-predictions