Name: Year of Quantum Across Canada
Start: 2025-10-06T08:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-10-09T17:00:00-04:00
Location: Perimeter Institute and Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC)

Year of Quantum Across Canada

from Monday, October 6, 2025 (8:00 AM) to Thursday, October 9, 2025 (5:00 PM)

Monday, October 6, 2025

8:30 AM Registration
Registration
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Room: QNC 2nd Floor

9:00 AM Opening Remarks
Opening Remarks
9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Room: QNC 0101
9:15 AM Plenary Talk: Quantum Simulation for High Energy Physics - Christian Bauer (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Plenary Talk: Quantum Simulation for High Energy Physics
- Christian Bauer (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
9:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Room: QNC 0101 After motivating the need for quantum simulation in High Energy Physics, I will explain one of the main tools for such simulations, namely a Hamiltonian formulation of lattice gauge theory. I will explain several general concepts, before focusing on the development of an efficient representation of the lattice Hamiltonian for QCD, the theory of the strong interaction. Time permitting, I will conclude with a few remarks about truncations of bosonic Hilbert spaces.
10:00 AM Plenary Talk: Monitoring Quantum Dynamics - Matthew Fisher (UC Santa Barbara)
Plenary Talk: Monitoring Quantum Dynamics
- Matthew Fisher (UC Santa Barbara)
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Room: QNC 0101 Traditionally, quantum condensed matter theory has focussed on ground states and equilibrium properties of spatially extended systems, such as electrons and spins in crystalline solids. In recent years ``noisy intermediate scale quantum computers" have emerged, providing new opportunities for controllable non-equilibrium many-body dynamics. In such dynamical quantum systems the inexorable growth of quantum entanglement is expected, but ``monitoring" (by making measurements) can compete against entanglement growth. In this talk I will overview work exploring the behavior of such ``monitored" quantum dynamics, which can exhibit measurement-induced phase transitions (MIPT), for example between volume law and area law entanglement. Experimental verification of these MIPT's can be challenging due to the so-called “post-selection problem”, but can be circumnavigated employing classical-quantum ``decoding". Employing this approach, recent experiments have observed the MIPT, as I will briefly describe.
10:45 AM Break
Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Room: QNC 0101
11:15 AM Contributed Talks: Contributed Talks
Contributed Talks
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Room: QNC 0101
Contributions

11:15 AM Choi-defined resource theories - Carlo Maria Scandolo (University of Calgary)

11:30 AM Uncloneable Encryption from Decoupling - Archishna Bhattacharyya (University of Ottawa)

11:45 AM Quantum Pseudoentanglement and its Applications within the AdS/CFT Correspondence - Murtaza Jafry (University of Chicago)
12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Room: IQC
1:30 PM The mysterious case of qubit readout in circuit QED - Alexandre Blais (Institut quantique, Université de Sherbrooke)
The mysterious case of qubit readout in circuit QED
- Alexandre Blais (Institut quantique, Université de Sherbrooke)
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Room: QNC 0101 Circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) has emerged as a powerful platform for quantum computation and for the investigation of quantum optics at microwave frequencies. A critical part of all cQED experiments is qubit readout, which relies on microwave drives. In principle, higher drive amplitudes should lead to faster and more accurate readout. However, experiments have consistently shown that as the drive amplitude increases, the readout quality rapidly deteriorates, something that severely limits qubit readout in the laboratory. We begin by reviewing the basics of qubit measurement in circuit QED, followed by presenting numerical simulations that capture the dynamics of the readout process. Our findings reveal signatures of ‘qubit ionization’, where the qubit is brought to highly excited states by the readout drive, leading to a breakdown of the measurement fidelity. Building on previous theoretical and experimental advances, we present a comprehensive theoretical framework providing a physical picture of the origin of transmon ionization, together with a set of tools which can readily be used to predict its occurrence. We further discuss how this phenomenon is not limited to qubit readout but also manifests itself in strongly driven nonlinear circuits across various settings. Finally, we compare our results with recent experimental data.
2:00 PM Quantum simulation of nonequilibrium dynamics for nuclear and particle physics - Zohreh Davoudi (University of Maryland, College Park)
Quantum simulation of nonequilibrium dynamics for nuclear and particle physics
- Zohreh Davoudi (University of Maryland, College Park)
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: QNC 0101 The universe has evolved from a far-from-equilibrium state at the Big Bang. High-energy particle colliders aim to recreate such nonequilibrium conditions in experiment, to reach densities and temperatures necessary for generating some of the most short-lived states of matter, and to unravel equilibration and hadronization mechanisms. Theoretical studies of matter out of equilibrium, rooted in the fundamental gauge theories of nature, often require simulations that are intractable with classical computing. Quantum simulators have started to probe out-of-equilibrium physics of quantum many-body systems in recent years. They have further shown promise in probing gauge-theory dynamics, and continue to grow in scale, complexity, and relevance. We review recent theoretical and experimental developments at this frontier, with a focus on gauge-theory nonequilibrium phenomena such as string breaking and particle production, hadron-collision dynamics, and thermalization.
2:30 PM Break
Break
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Room: QNC 0101
3:15 PM Panel Discussion: Quantum Algorithm – research directions and perspective - David Gosset (University of Waterloo - Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC)) John Preskill (California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - Division of Physics Mathematics & Astronomy) Alexandre Blais (Institut quantique, Université de Sherbrooke) Graeme Smith (Institute for Quantum Computing (AMATH))
Panel Discussion: Quantum Algorithm – research directions and perspective
- David Gosset (University of Waterloo - Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC))
- John Preskill (California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - Division of Physics Mathematics & Astronomy)
- Alexandre Blais (Institut quantique, Université de Sherbrooke)
- Graeme Smith (Institute for Quantum Computing (AMATH))
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Room: QNC 0101 **Moderator** Alexandre Blais **Panelists** David Gosset John Preskill
4:15 PM Discussion
Discussion
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Room: QNC 0101

5:00 PM Welcome Reception / Lab Tours
Welcome Reception / Lab Tours
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Room: QNC 2nd Floor
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
9:00 AM Quantum reductions for nonlocal games (Plenary Talk) - Laura Mančinska (University of Copenhagen)
Quantum reductions for nonlocal games (Plenary Talk)
- Laura Mančinska (University of Copenhagen)
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Room: QNC 0101 Gap-preserving reductions are central to classical complexity theory, but their quantum counterparts, especially in the setting of multiprover interactive proofs with entangled provers, present new challenges. In this talk I will introduce a framework for such reductions in the MIP* setting and use it to show that the gapped promise problem for independent set games is MIP*-complete. These games, with constant question size, are solvable in polynomial time in the classical case yet can be undecidable in the quantum case. A central technical ingredient is a new stability theorem that transforms nearly projective measurements into exact ones.
9:45 AM Building Spacetime From Quantum Information - Brian Swingle (Brandeis University)
Building Spacetime From Quantum Information
- Brian Swingle (Brandeis University)
9:45 AM - 10:15 AM
Room: QNC 0101 Quantum information has proven extremely useful for understanding how spacetime emerges from microphysics in some quantum theories of gravity. Conversely, quantum gravity has inspired a number of ideas and tools of broader relevance for quantum information science. I will describe one recent example of this exchange in which we used ideas of quantum randomness and tensor networks to shed light on the nature of the interior of black holes.
10:15 AM Contributed Talks: Contributed Talks
Contributed Talks
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Room: QNC 0101
Contributions

10:15 AM The Clifford hierarchy for one qubit or qudit - Oscar Lautsch (University of Waterloo, Department of Pure Mathematics & Institute for Quantum Computing)

10:30 AM A Cautionary Note on Quantum Oracles - Avantika Agarwal (Institute for Quantum Computing)
10:45 AM Break
Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
11:15 AM Contributed Talks: Contributed Talks
Contributed Talks
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Room: QNC 0101
Contributions

11:15 AM Hiding, Shuffling, and Cycle Finding: Quantum Algorithms on Edge Lists - Xingyu Zhou (The University of British Columbia)

11:30 AM Extendibility of Fermionic Gaussian States - Amirreza Negari (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

11:45 AM Classical Simulability of Quantum Circuits with Shallow Magic Depth - Yuxuan Zhang (University of Toronto)
12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

1:30 PM Discussion / Collaboration Time
Discussion / Collaboration Time
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: IQC

2:30 PM Break
Break
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Room: QNC 0101
3:15 PM Quantum Simulation of Fundamental Physics - Martin Savage (University of Washington)
Quantum Simulation of Fundamental Physics
- Martin Savage (University of Washington)
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
Room: QNC 0101
3:45 PM Optimal quantum metrology under energy constraints - Yuxiang Yang (University of Hong Kong (HKU))
Optimal quantum metrology under energy constraints
- Yuxiang Yang (University of Hong Kong (HKU))
3:45 PM - 4:15 PM
Room: QNC 0101 Quantum metrology promises enhanced precision in parameter estimation by exploiting quantum effects. The traditional framework of metrology commonly assumes unlimited access to resources, overlooking resource constraints in realistic scenarios. As such, the optimal strategies therein are often infeasible in practice. In this talk, I will introduce our recent result on optimal quantum metrology where the total energy consumption of the probe state preparation, intermediate control operations, and the final measurement is subject to an energy constraint. The result is built on a comprehensive theoretical framework for characterizing energy-constrained quantum multi-step processes, which can be applied to other tasks of quantum information processing beyond metrology. Based on the framework, we develop a general optimization method for energy-constrained quantum metrology that determines the optimal precision as well as the corresponding optimal strategy. Based on arXiv 2506.09436.
4:15 PM Discussion
Discussion
4:15 PM - 4:30 PM
Room: QNC 0101

5:00 PM Poster Session / Lab Tours
Poster Session / Lab Tours
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Room: QNC 2nd Floor
7:00 PM Public Event - Panel Discussion: Impact of Quantum Information Science: how will it change how we work? (RSVP Recommended) - Christine Muschik (University of Waterloo) Antonio Mezzacapo (IBM Research - Thomas J. Watson Research Center) Roger Melko (University of Waterloo - Department of Physics and Astronomy) Martin Savage (University of Washington) Brian Swingle (Brandeis University)
Public Event - Panel Discussion: Impact of Quantum Information Science: how will it change how we work? (RSVP Recommended)
- Christine Muschik (University of Waterloo)
- Antonio Mezzacapo (IBM Research - Thomas J. Watson Research Center)
- Roger Melko (University of Waterloo - Department of Physics and Astronomy)
- Martin Savage (University of Washington)
- Brian Swingle (Brandeis University)
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Room: Math & Computer Building - MC 2600 **Moderator** Roger Melko **Panelists** Antionio Mezzacapo Christine Muschik Martin Savage Brian Swingle Please RSVP in advance here: https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/events/impact-quantum-information-science-how-will-it-change-how-we
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
9:00 AM Quantum Computing Enhanced Sensing (Plenary Talk) - Soonwon Choi (MIT)
Quantum Computing Enhanced Sensing (Plenary Talk)
- Soonwon Choi (MIT)
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre Quantum computing and sensing represent two distinct frontiers of quantum information science. Here, we harness quantum computing to solve a fundamental and practically important sensing problem: the detection of weak oscillating fields with unknown strength and frequency. We present a quantum computing enhanced sensing protocol, that we dub quantum search sensing, outperforming all existing approaches. Furthermore, we prove our approach is optimal by establishing the Grover-Heisenberg limit -- a fundamental lower bound on the minimum sensing time. The key idea is to robustly digitize the continuous, analog signal into a discrete operation, which is then integrated into a quantumalgorithm. Our metrological gain originates from quantum computation, distinguishing our protocol from conventional sensing approaches. Indeed, we prove that broad classes of protocols based on quantum Fisher information, finite-lifetime quantum memory, or classical signal processing are strictly less powerful. We propose and analyze a proof-of-principle experiment using nitrogen-vacancy centers, where meaningful improvements are achievable using current technology. This work establishes quantum computation as a powerful new resource for advancing sensing capabilities.
9:45 AM Topological Quantum Spin Glass Order - Nikolas Breukmann (University of Bristol)
Topological Quantum Spin Glass Order
- Nikolas Breukmann (University of Bristol)
9:45 AM - 10:15 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre Ordered phases of matter have close connections to computation. Two prominent examples are spin glass order, with wide-ranging applications in machine learning and optimization, and topological order, closely related to quantum error correction. Here, we introduce the concept of topological quantum spin glass (TQSG) order which marries these two notions, exhibiting both the complex energy landscapes of spin glasses, and the quantum memory and long-range entanglement characteristic of topologically ordered systems. Using techniques from coding theory and a quantum generalization of Gibbs state decompositions, we show that TQSG order is the low-temperature phase of various quantum LDPC codes on expander graphs, including hypergraph and balanced product codes. Our work introduces a topological analog of spin glasses that preserves quantum information, opening new avenues for both statistical mechanics and quantum computer science.
10:15 AM Harnessing qudits for quantum simulations - Christine Muschik (University of Waterloo - Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC))
Harnessing qudits for quantum simulations
- Christine Muschik (University of Waterloo - Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC))
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre Particle physics underpins our understanding of the world at a fundamental level by describing the interplay of matter and forces through gauge theories. Yet, despite their unmatched success, the intrinsic quantum mechanical nature of gauge theories makes important problem classes notoriously difficult to address with classical computational techniques. A promising way to overcome these roadblocks is offered by quantum computers, which are based on the same laws that make the classical computations so difficult. We present a quantum computation of the properties of the basic building block of two-dimensional lattice quantum electrodynamics, involving both gauge fields and matter. This computation is made possible by the use of a trapped-ion qudit quantum processor, where quantum information is encoded in d different states per ion, rather than in two states as in qubits. Qudits are ideally suited for describing gauge fields, which are naturally high-dimensional, leading to a dramatic reduction in the quantum register size and circuit complexity. Our results open the door for hardware-efficient quantum simulations with qudits in near-term quantum devices.
10:45 AM Break
Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Room: Atrium / Bistro
11:15 AM Contributed Talks: Contributed Talks
Contributed Talks
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre
Contributions

11:15 AM Chiral Color Code : Single-shot error correction for exotic topological order - Dongjin Lee (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

11:30 AM Architectural mechanisms of a universal fault-tolerant quantum computer - Shayan Majidy (Princeton University)

11:45 AM Decoding Multimode Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill Codes with Noisy Auxiliaries - Marc-Antoine Roy (Université de Sherbrooke)
12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Room: PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro

1:30 PM Discussion / Collaboration Time
Discussion / Collaboration Time
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

2:30 PM Break
Break
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Room: Atrium / Bistro
3:15 PM Keynote: Our Quantum Future - John Preskill (Caltech)
Keynote: Our Quantum Future
- John Preskill (Caltech)
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre
4:15 PM Discussion
Discussion
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre

6:00 PM Banquet Dinner
Banquet Dinner
6:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Room: PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro
Thursday, October 9, 2025
9:00 AM Layer codes as partially self-correcting quantum memories (Plenary Talk) - Aleksander Kubica (Yale University)
Layer codes as partially self-correcting quantum memories (Plenary Talk)
- Aleksander Kubica (Yale University)
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre
9:45 AM Is Fundamental Physics Fundamentally Simpler? - Nathan Wiebe (University of Toronto)
Is Fundamental Physics Fundamentally Simpler?
- Nathan Wiebe (University of Toronto)
9:45 AM - 10:15 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre
10:15 AM Chemistry beyond the scale of exact diagonalization on a quantum-centric supercomputer - Antonio Mezzacapo (IBM Research - Thomas J. Watson Research Center)
Chemistry beyond the scale of exact diagonalization on a quantum-centric supercomputer
- Antonio Mezzacapo (IBM Research - Thomas J. Watson Research Center)
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre In this talk, I will discuss quantum diagonalization methods, based on subspaces obtained from quantum computers, which overcome the scaling limitations of variational algorithms and enabled realistic chemistry computations of up to 77 qubits on a quantum centric supercomputing architecture, using a Heron quantum processor and the RIKEN supercomputer Fugaku. Merging these ideas with Krylov quantum subspaces, I will present a ground state algorithm with convergence similar to phase estimation and robustness to noise, which led to an experimental demonstration for lattice ground state problems obtained with Heron processors and the supercomputer Frontier.
10:45 AM Break
Break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Room: Atrium / Bistro
11:15 AM Building bridges between entanglement and coherence - Eric Chitambar (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Building bridges between entanglement and coherence
- Eric Chitambar (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre In distributed quantum information processing, the parties are often limited to performing local operations and classical communication (LOCC). The class of LOCC is notoriously difficult to analyze, and typically one considers the larger class of so-called separable (SEP) operations, which has a nicer mathematical structure. Finding separable but non-LOCC maps is a challenging endeavor, with most known examples involving the task of state discrimination. In this talk, I will describe an approach for constructing SEP but non-LOCC channels based on the resource theory of quantum coherence. This further highlights the value of studying general resource theories within quantum information theory. This is joint work with Ludovico Lami.
12:00 PM Lunch
Lunch
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Room: PI/1-124 - Lower Bistro
1:30 PM How Low Can We Go? Exploring Minimal Assumptions in Quantum Cryptography - Dakshita Khurana (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
How Low Can We Go? Exploring Minimal Assumptions in Quantum Cryptography
- Dakshita Khurana (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre In this talk, I will explore the fascinating landscape of minimal assumptions in quantum cryptography—how little we need to assume to build secure quantum protocols. We will cover key cryptographic primitives including quantum encryption, signatures, and money, and show how these primitives imply the existence of one-way puzzles, a quantum analogue of classical one-way functions. I will also highlight the utility of one-way puzzles and discuss concrete assumptions that enable their realization, revealing intriguing connections with quantum advantage.
2:00 PM Quantum simulation of a noisy classical nonlinear dynamics - Sergey Bravyi (IBM Quantum, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center)
Quantum simulation of a noisy classical nonlinear dynamics
- Sergey Bravyi (IBM Quantum, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center)
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre We consider the problem of simulating dynamics of classical nonlinear dissipative systems with N>>1 degrees of freedom. To make the problem tractable for quantum computers, we add a weak Gaussian noise to the equation of motion and the initial state. Our main result is an end-to-end quantum algorithm for simulating the noisy dynamics of nonlinear systems satisfying certain sparsity and divergence-free conditions. For any constant nonzero noise rate, the quantum runtime scales polynomially with log(N), evolution time, inverse error tolerance, and the relative strength of nonlinearity and dissipation.
2:30 PM Break
Break
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Room: Atrium / Bistro
3:15 PM Panel Discussion: Academia & Companies - what is their role in driving quantum innovation forward? - Vlad Gheorgiu (University of Waterloo) John Watrous (IBM (Canada)) Martin Laforest (Quantacet) Anne Broadbent (University of Ottawa) Barry Sanders (University of Calgary - The Institute for Quantum Science and Technology)
Panel Discussion: Academia & Companies - what is their role in driving quantum innovation forward?
- Vlad Gheorgiu (University of Waterloo)
- John Watrous (IBM (Canada))
- Martin Laforest (Quantacet)
- Anne Broadbent (University of Ottawa)
- Barry Sanders (University of Calgary - The Institute for Quantum Science and Technology)
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre **Moderator** Martin Laforest **Panelists** Barry Sanders Anne Broadbent Vlad Gheorghiu John Watrous
4:15 PM Discussion
Discussion
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre

4:45 PM Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
Room: PI/1-100 - Theatre

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