In this talk we will explore what is likely to make up the disruption caused by quantum computing, how it will come about and when (or actually whether) it will happen. I will discuss the example of deciphering secrets safeguarded by the RSA protocol but will also look out to the potential revenue streams from quantum computing after migration to other cryptographic protocols. These will likely include applications in materials science, physics or general-purpose optimisations and each could lead to technological advances. I will describe how the geometry of the unitary group facilitated my work on developing optimisation solvers in quantum computing at NTU and the lessons learned along the way. In brief, quantum computing has been maturing: its prodigious prospects remain exciting and at the same time we, as a community, have learned much more about the realities and requirements needed to realize practically useful quantum computations.

Dr Marek Gluza is a Senior Research Fellow at NTU and the inventor of double-bracket quantum algorithms which can serve as a general-purpose optimisation solver in quantum computing and have led to several new protocols. Dr Gluza earned his PhD under Prof J. Eisert at Freie Universität Berlin and his diverse publication record spans subjects from tensor networks and statistical mechanics to quantum field theory. Privately, he believes the most critical challenge facing the future of fault-tolerant quantum computation is climate change. When playing chess, he opens with 1. b3 and is always happy to play a game.

For more information about the ESD Seminar, please email esd_invite@sutd.edu.sg