Note: I am currently working on this project and iterating through the program every day. Here is a link to my logs on my progress!
I was introduced to quantum information science was when I was finishing up my Computer Architecture (CS211) course at Rutgers University. My professor had just finished his lecture on "The Basics of Logic Design", and was speaking about further applications... such as Quantum Information Science. Up until that point, I thought the best you could do was 1 and 0 or yes and no-- in the context of bit manipulations and such.
I was fascinated at the idea of there being more than two "options" in the world of computations. Of course what I'm referring to is the idea of a qudit. I immediately thought to get some research experience in this field as I started to learn of its applications for enhancing the ways computers operate and perform calculations.
After searching for a research group in this field, I eventually came across the Von Neumann Lab of Quantum Information. Despite that all I had was a strong foundation in linear algebra and probability-- in addition to my CS coursework and some prior software dev. experience-- (no real quantum experience at all) the head professor allowed me to work with him, and I was so grateful for the opportunity.
Which brings me to my work that I am doing today! My work with the lab involves building software to create an interactive environment for the user to experiment with quantum operations relating to measurement and entanglement entropy in the context of the Local Operations and Classical Communication (LOCC) protocol.
To be more specific, I am using PyQt5 to build a GUI that generates a MANIM video about a specific quantum operation, given specific parameters from the user. I am also using the Qiskit SDK to allow for accurate computations of these quantum operations.
The end goal is to be able to produce a software application that will allow researchers to better visualize and understand concepts in quantum information science. This software is also intended to be used in an upcoming research publication on LOCC by the lab.
This being said, I am working closely with the PhD student involved in the project to continuously make steps towards our end goal. I am learning more about quantum science every day, and I enjoy it very much. As I am building software to represent these concepts in quantum science, I am slowly learning more about quantum theory along the way. Currently I am also studying quantum teleportation to understand qudits and quantum operations better (more on this later)!
My work with this lab has made me realize that I want to pursue a PhD in Computer Science, to continue making advancements in computer computations and algorithms.
