QLCI: Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (CIQC)

Quantum information science (QIS) promises to transform our society in many ways, ranging from how we enhance human intelligence through computation to how we understand the natural world. The Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation (CIQC) brings together researchers from seven world-leading universities, spanning the disciplines of chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, materials science, and physics, to advance the fundamental science and engineering that will make enable this transformation. Operating as the principal QIS research network in California, the Institute serves the national interest by accelerating progress in a field of strategic importance to American science, technology, and economic competitiveness. Beyond its research mission, CIQC augments undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education. The broad reach of the CIQC’s education and outreach activities is enhanced through partnership with the California State University system, which is the largest four-year public university in the United States, and with the Computer History Museum and the UC Berkeley Oral History Center, for the purpose of chronicling the development of the quantum computer and engaging the public in this rapidly evolving endeavor. CIQC pursues three interlocking research challenges: discovering and realizing the power of quantum computation, engineering quantum technologies and their applications, and understanding nature through the lens of QIS. Addressing the first challenge, the Institute seeks to identify and verify applications of quantum computers that exceed what conventional computers can realize. Specific applications include processing measurement data, simulating properties of complex molecules, and attacking cryptosystems; the latter pursuit is critical to guiding efforts to preserve data security against the advanced capabilities of quantum computers. Addressing the second challenge, the CIQC addresses specific technical challenges to the development of quantum computers using neutral-atom, trapped-ion, and solid-state platforms, develops a simulation platform that allows apples-to-apples comparisons of different platforms, and explores novel approaches to fault-tolerant quantum computation using a large-scale neutral-atom testbed. Addressing the third challenge, the CIQC applies concepts from QIS to derive new insight on quantum glasses, thermalization, and topological order, uses quantum hardware to create new forms of non-equilibrium quantum matter, and explores how interactive quantum matter can realize persistent quantum memories, which are a critical resource for robust quantum computation. An active research coordination strategy unites these efforts across the CIQC and draws in further research capabilities through partnerships with the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, campus-level quantum initiatives, and international partnerships. 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.