Observing Entanglement in a Quantum Annealing Processor

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Speaker(s): Mark Johnson (’89)

Quantum Annealing (QA) is an algorithm proposed as one of a potentially powerful set of methods to solve computationally hard problems. It is generally believed that a quantum algorithm must in some way harness entanglement to be able to provide any significant speed-up over classical algorithms. Unfortunately, the absence of microwave signals in the D-Wave processor, a system designed to implement quantum annealing, makes full state tomography impractical, and has thus made characterization of entanglement difficult. In this talk I will review quantum annealing, and then discuss what we expect entanglement to look like during the annealing algorithm. I will then describe some recent experiments performed with D-Wave processors aimed at uncovering evidence for entanglement. [e.g. T. Lanting et al., arXiv:1401.3500]

Colloquium

Junior and senior physics majors attend our biweekly colloquium series, held on Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. in Shanahan B460. The talks are open to all students and to the public, and are frequently attended by scientists from the other Claremont Colleges, Cal Poly Pomona, and others. The series features speakers from a broad range of institutions and fields of physics.