András Gilyén has won second prize in the Microsoft Quantum Challenge for his entry ‘Testing quantum state engineering protocols via LIQUi|> simulations”. Gilyén is a researcher in the QuSoft research centre and PhD student in CWI’s Algorithms & Complexity group.
In the Microsoft Quantum Challenge, participants were challenged to use Microsoft’s quantum simulator, called LIQUi|>, to solve a novel problem. LIQUi|> simulates a quantum computer, including state-of-the-art simulation of quantum circuits and quantum noise. Gilyén tested the performance of a recently proposed quantum algorithm for preparing the ground state of frustration-free local Hamiltonians. He implemented a kind of quantum Monte Carlo simulation using LIQUi|> to efficiently run the quantum algorithm on specific test instances. Also as part of his work he demonstrated the power of post-selection in quantum protocols, and used post-selection to implement Mandelbrot maps with simulated quantum circuits.
The second prize consists of $2500, and will be awarded during the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2016 in Redmond, where the winners will present their work to researchers from industry and academia. First prize went to Thien Nguyen of the Australian National University in Canberra.
