Complete program:  schedule

Schedule and abstracts of the Workshop on Quantum Information (5-9 December)

 

From 12 September 2022 to 9 December 2022, the Focus Semester on Quantum Information takes place at Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany. The lectures are onsite only, see here for the schedule.

The aim of the Focus Semester is to study quantum information theory from an holistic point of view including the perspectives of mathematics, physics and computer science. Here is a brief video teaser on YouTube.

We have numerous international experts giving multidisciplinary lectures at Saarland University, accompanied by various research talks in seminars. The program is accessible for first year Master's students (physics, mathematics or computer science), in particular, providing an introduction to this modern field. However, also PhD students, postdocs and researchers are welcome to participate in the program.

Goal of the program

Quantum information theory is at the interface of mathematics, physics and computer science - it is genuinely interdisciplinary. Throughout the Focus Semester on Quantum Information we will approach quantum information theory from these three perspectives aiming at a complete picture of the field. 

The goals are on the one hand to educate a new generation of Master's students and young scientists in this modern domain with a particular emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature. The lectures will be accessible for first year Master's students of mathematics, physics or computer science. On the other hand, we will bring together world leading international experts on quantum information in order to foster the research in this direction.

Organizers

Markus Bläser (Saarland University, Department of Computer Science)

Michael Brannan (University of Waterloo, Department of Pure Mathematics and Institute for Quantum Computing)

Giovanna Morigi (Saarland University, Department of Physics)

Moritz Weber (Saarland University, Department of Mathematics)

Registration

The registration deadline for financial support has passed.

Overview on the schedule

12 September - 23 September 2022 (Pre-program): Introductory talks by students and local researchers as well as short expository talks by students on their Bachelor's, Master's or PhD projects. Participation is not mandatory for the upcoming lectures.

26 September - 2 December 2022 (Core program): Introductory and special lectures given by invited international experts in quantum information theory. Accompanied by a research seminar on quantum information consisting in research talks as well as the seminar Women in Quantum Information.

5 December - 9 December 2022 (Concluding program): One week workshop on quantum information theory from the perspectives of mathematics, physics and computer science. Invited speakers from all over the world.

(more details below)

Lecturers

 

Participants
  1. Abhinav (Uni Saarland)
  2. Ahmed Abouel (Uni Saarland)
  3. Ahmed Abbas (MPI)
  4. Waleed Ahmed (Uni Saarland)
  5. Hira Akram (Uni Saarland)
  6. Moein Alinaghian (Uni Saarland)
  7. Puya Amiri (Uni Saarland)
  8. Ayesha Ansar (Uni Saarland)
  9. Shreyash Arya (Uni Saarland)
  10. Mohammad Asim (Uni Saarland)
  11. Advait Athreya (Uni Saarland)
  12. Aashita Balan Elaychanadom (Uni Saarland)
  13. Thomas Barton (Uni Worms)
  14. Manuel Benavent Lledó (Uni Alicante)
  15. Ashish Bhattarai (Uni Saarland)
  16. Thomas Bock (Uni Saarland)
  17. Moritz Boehle (MPI)
  18. Ugur Bolat  (DFKI)
  19. Vendant Bonde (Uni Saarland)
  20. Pierre Botteron (Uni Toulouse)
  21. Sebastian Böhm (Uni Saarland)
  22. Purbayan Chakraborty (Uni Besancon)
  23. Eric Culf  (Uni Ottawa)
  24. Rishabh Dabral (MPI)
  25. Padraig Daly (Uni Waterloo)
  26. Stefan Dartois (Uni Melbourne)
  27. Alberto Dayan (Uni Saarland)
  28. Sohum Dhavale (Uni Saarland)
  29. Mihirraj Dixit (Uni Saarland)
  30. Aashita Elaychanadom (Uni Saarland)
  31. Mohammed Elsayed (Uni Saarland)
  32. Barış Can Esmer (Uni Saarland)
  33. Cristina España-Bonet (Uni Saarland)
  34. Nicolas Faroß (Uni Saarland)
  35. Seifeddine Fathalli (Uni Saarland)
  36. Khurshed Fitter (VNIT India)
  37. Yesica Florez (Uni Saarland)
  38. Håkon R. Fredheim (Uni Oslo)
  39. Alexander Frei (Uni Copenhagen)
  40. Katsunori Fujie (Uni Hokkaido)
  41. Priyanga Ganesan (University of San Diego)
  42. Malte Gerhold (NTNU)
  43. Ahmed Ghazy (Uni Saarland)
  44. Adina Goldberg (Uni Waterloo)
  45. Vladislav Golyanik (MPI)
  46. Simon Graf (Uni Saarland)
  47. Nikita Gupta (Uni Saarland)
  48. Nagisa Hara (Uni Kyoto)
  49. Sam Harper (Uni Glasgow)
  50. Atsuya Hasegawa (Uni Tokyo)
  51. Christian Hechtl (Uni Saarland)
  52. Bernhard Hilpert (DFKI)
  53. Aishwarya Hiwrale (Uni Saarland)
  54. Ibrahim Siddig Ibrahim Eltayeb (Uni Saarland)
  55. Md Jonybul Islam (Uni Saarland)
  56. Chinmay Joshi (Uni Saarland)
  57. Navami Kairanda (MPI)
  58. Pranay Raj Kamuni (Uni Saarland)
  59. Sridhar Karra (Uni Saarland)
  60. Emma King (Uni Saarland)
  61. Hitesh Kotte (Uni Saarland)
  62. Cuma Kökmen (Uni Saarland)
  63. Adarsh Jamadandi (Uni Saarland)
  64. Moritz Jung (Uni Saarland)
  65. Niklas Jung (Uni Saarland)
  66. Luca Junk (Uni Saarland)
  67. Md Abdul Kadir (Uni Saarland)
  68. Christian Kaltenecker (Uni Saarland)
  69. Nina Kiefer (Uni Saarland)
  70. Robin Krill (Uni Saarland)
  71. Larissa Kroell (Uni Waterloo)
  72. Aashay Kulkarni (Uni Saarland)
  73. Ferdinand Könneker (Uni Saarland)
  74. Lars Lauer (Uni Saarland)
  75. Maximilian Leist (Uni Saarland)
  76. Lorenz Leutgeb (MPI)
  77. Luca Lionni (Uni Saarland)
  78. Aena Nuzhat Lodi (Uni Saarland)
  79. Junichiro Matsuda (Uni Kyoto)
  80. Jonas Metzinger (Uni Saarland)
  81. Joshua Meyer (Uni Saarland)
  82. Akihiro Miyagawa (Uni Kyoto)
  83. Muhammad Abdul Mueed (Uni Saarland)
  84. Anne Müller (Uni Saarland)
  85. Günter Neumann (DFKI)
  86. Bipin Oli (Uni Saarland)
  87. Ahmed Omer Abdelaziz Musa (Uni Saarland)
  88. Aadil Oufkir (ENS de Lyon)
  89. Samet Özcan (Uni Saarland)
  90. Roberto Palomares (Uni Texas A&M)
  91. Leon Pernak (Uni Saarland)
  92. Prashanth Pombala (Uni Saarland)
  93. Ahmed Radwan (Uni Saarland)
  94. Gabriel Rath (Uni Saarland)
  95. Riccardo Roma (Uni Saarland)
  96. Muhammed Saeed (Uni Saarland)
  97. Anurag Saha Roy (Uni Saarland)
  98. Moustafa Said (Uni Saarland)
  99. Antonio Santaniello (Uni Trieste)
  100. Björn Schäfer (Uni Darmstadt)
  101. Julien Schanz (Uni Saarland)
  102. Manuela Schuler (Uni Saarland)
  103. Selina Schwindling (Uni Saarland)
  104. Azin Shahiri (Uni Freiburg)
  105. Danish Shahzad (Uni Saarland)
  106. Haya Shammah (Uni Saarland)
  107. Shilpa Sharma (Uni Saarland)
  108. Ashwath Shetty (Uni Saarland)
  109. Pranav Shetty (Uni Saarland)
  110. Shireen (Uni Saarland)
  111. Aleena Siji (Uni Saarland)
  112. Gurpit Singh (MPI)
  113. Mohit Singh (Uni Saarland)
  114. Moritz Speicher (Uni Saarland)
  115. Aleksa Sukovic (Uni Saarland)
  116. Christof Tinnes (Uni Saarland)
  117. Arekh Tiwari (Uni Saarland)
  118. Edith Tretschk (Uni Saarland)
  119. Maximilian Ulrich (Uni Saarland)
  120. August von Liechtenstein (Uni Saarland)
  121. Lena Wagner (Uni Saarland)
  122. Moritz Wald (Uni Saarland)
  123. Sherry Wang (Uni Ottawa)
  124. Ingmar Weber (Uni Saarland)
  125. Yannik Weber (Uni Saarland)
  126. Kallistos Weis (Uni Saarland)
  127. Alexander Wendel (Uni Saarland)
  128. Sophie Wenning (Uni Saarland)
  129. Lan Yang (Uni Saarland)
  130. Sheng Yin (Uni Baylor)
  131. Dean Zenner (Uni Saarland)
  132. Jennifer Zhu (Uni Waterloo)

 

 

Funded by

The Focus Semester is supported by:

Saarland University

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

SFB-TRR 195

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Transform4Europe

Elements of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information

Preparatory seminar (12 Sept - 23 Sept 2022)

In this two weeks warm up program, we will have introductory and survey talks given by students and local researchers. Moreover, local and visiting students are invited to present their Bachelor's, Master's or PhD projects in short expository talks.

The list of talks and the timetable for the preprogram can be found here timetable & list of talks . The preparatory seminar starts on Monday, 12 September, 10:00 with an informal gathering in the foyer of building E2 4. The first talk will then be at 10:45 at lecture hall 003 of building E1 3, with an introduction at 10:30.

The participation in this short pre-program is not mandatory for the upcoming lectures.

Lectures on QIT (26 Sept - 2 Dec 2022)

The ten weeks (from 26 September to 2 December) of lectures are the core program of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information.  The official opening event of the Focus Semester is on Monday, 26 September 2022, at 14:00 in the Günter Hotz lecture hall, building E2 2.

Various international experts will give introductory and special lectures on topics in quantum information theory, ranging from 2-7 lectures depending on the lecturer. The lectures will cover aspects of mathematics, physics and computer science.

We emphasize that the lectures shall be accessible for first year's Master's students of mathematics, physics or computer science.

Here is the schedule.

Lectures and topics (tentative):

  • 27 Sept, Introduction to open quantum systems, Giovanna Morigi
  • 27 Sept - 5 Oct, Introduction to Mathematical Foundations of QIT, Jason Crann
  • 29 Sept - 30 Sept, Introduction to quantum algorithms, Michael Walter
  • 28 Sept - 30 Sept, Control of open quantum systems, Christiane Koch
  • 4 Oct - 7 Oct, Introduction to quantum algorithms, Jonas Helsen
  • 17 Oct - 19 Oct, Quantum algorithms and quantum control, Giuseppe Santoro
  • 18 Oct - 20 Oct, Quantum many-body open systems, Rosario Fazio
  • 25 Oct - 28 Oct, Quantum cryptography, Anne Broadbent
  • 25 Oct - 26 Oct, Device independent quantum information processing, Antonio Acin
  • 2 Nov - 3 Nov, Mathematical Foundations of QIT and Entanglement, Ion Nechita
  • 7 Nov - 9 Nov, Quantum error correction, Barbara Terhal
  • 8 Nov - 10 Nov, Topological quantum computing, Eric Rowell
  • 10 Nov - 22 Nov, Security of quantum key distribution, Glaucia Murta
  • 15 Nov - 17 Nov, Selftesting, Laura Mancinska
  • 14 Nov - 18 Nov, Nonlocal games and graph games, David Roberson
  • 21 Nov - 25 Nov, Quantum symmetries of graphs, Simon Schmidt

From 10-14 October, we will have a week of introductory lectures on the computer algebra system OSCAR

Besides, Frank Wilhelm-Mauch will give a lecture "Introduction to Quantum Computing" as part of the regular study program at Saarland University. The lecture begins on 24 October and runs on Mondays and Fridays, 12:00-14:00. It will be in English.

There is also the series of public talks "Ein Quantum Tech", organized by Jürgen Eschner and Giovanna Morigi, see also here. There will be talks (in German) at 5 Oct, 12 Oct and 26 Oct, at 18:30 in Filmhaus, Saarbrücken.

Saarbrücken-Jülich Colloquium on Quantum Information and Computing (26 Sept - 2 Dec 2022)

The Saarbrücken-Jülich Colloquium on Quantum Information and Computing is a joint colloquium of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information and the Jülich-Saarbrücken School on Quantum Computing.

The colloquium takes place on Mondays, 16:00-17:00 online or in person in Saarbrücken (Lecture Hall II or III of building E2 5, see below), and it will be streamed online to Jülich and to interested partners in the Transform4Europe program. Before the colloquium, there will be Quantum Cake, from 15:00-16:00, with coffee, tea and cake.

The speakers will be local and international experts in the field presenting their recent research on topics around quantum information, from mathematics, physics and computer science. All talks will be accessible for Master's students from physics, mathematics and computer science.

  • 26 September (Opening Event, 14:00m Günter Hotz Lecture Hall, building E2 2): Tommaso Calarco, U Köln and Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany - Building the second quantum revolution
  • 3 October: [National Holiday in Germany]
  • 10 October, online: Sofia Vallecorsa, Quantum CERN, Switzerland -The CERN QTI: initial results and research perspective on Quantum Computing for HEP
  • 17 October, Lecture Hall III, building E2 5: Vivien Kendon, U Strathclyde, UK - Integrating quantum computing with HPC
  • 24 October, Lecture Hall II, building E2 5: Antonio Acin, ICFO, Spain - Certification of quantum systems and technologies
  • 31 October, online: Scott Aaronson, U Texas, Austin, USA -
  • 7 November, online: Daniel Lidar, U Southern California, USA - Demonstration of algorithmic quantum speedup
  • 14 November, online: Tobias Osborne, U Hannover, Germany - No Free Lunch for Quantum Machine Learning
  • 21 November, online: Ignacio Cirac, MPI of Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany - Quantum computing and simulation in the NISQ era
  • 28 November, online: Vern Pausen, U Waterloo, Canada - Entanglement Breaking Rank and Mixed Unitary Rank of Quantum Channels

The Saarbrücken-Jülich Colloquium on Quantum Information and Computing is funded by the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

The colloquium is part of the Transform4Europe program, see also here.

Workshop on introduction to the computer algebra system OSCAR (10 Oct -14 Oct 2022)

From 10-14 October, the workshop Introduction to the computer algebra system OSCAR takes place, as part of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information.

OSCAR is open source, developed by the SFB-TRR 195, a collaborative research center with scientists from Saarland U, TU Kaiserslautern, RWTH Aachen and other universities. It combines GAP, SINGULAR, POLYMAKE, ANTIC and others, and goes beyond.

This workshop aims at all levels of OSCAR users and developers. For beginners, there is an introductory crash course at the start. We also invited three experts to give accessible introduction to various topics. We then will try together to implement what they covered using OSCAR, during live hands-on session. See here for the detailed program.

Please bring a laptop and follow the preparatory instructions on the webpage of the workshop.

Besides this, participants are also invited to work through Julia tutorials or OSCAR exercises, or to bring their own problems (e.g. from their research) and will try to provide support.

 

Seminar: Women in Quantum Information (12 Sept - 9 Dec 2022)

During the Focus Semester we run the program Seminar: Women in Quantum Information.

Discussion and network session with female speakers:

  • Tuesday, 18 Oct: Vivienne Kendon
  • Tuesday, 25 Oct: Anne Broadbent
  • Monday, 14 Nov: Glaucia Murta and Laura Mancinska (open for men, too)

The list for the speaker can be found here.

Workshops for women participants:

  • Friday, 25. Nov, 9:30-17:30:  Escape the superwoman trap (with Nancy Fischer), Seminar room 3, E2 5 
  • Thursday, 1. Dec,  10:00-17:00: Negotiations and convincing (with Robert Kötter), Graduate Center, C9 3

The program Seminar: Women in Quantum Information is funded by the Collaborative Research Center SFB-TRR 195 Symbolic Tools in Mathematics and their Application.

Quantum Cake (Mondays, 15:00-16:00)

Every Monday, from 15:00-16:00, there is Quantum Cake, a coffee break with coffee, tea, cake and the opportunity to casually discuss quantum matters of life. It will take place in the foyer of E2 4.

No Quantum Cake on Monday, 3 October! (Public holiday in Germany)

Workshop on QIT (5 Dec - 9 Dec 2022)

One week workshop on quantum information theory from the perspectives of mathematics, physics and computer science with invited speakers from all over the world. 

You find the list of title and abstracts here and the schedule for the workshop here.

Students Seminar (24 Oct - 9 Dec)

The students seminar will take place every wednesday from 4-6 pm in SR2. It is organized by Pierre Botteron.

You find the file for the upcoming talks here.

Practical Information

Travel

Saarbrücken has its own airport, but there are basically only flights Saarbrücken-Berlin. Near airports are in Luxemburg (about 1 hour by bus from Saarbrücken), Frankfurt (about 2 hours by direct train) or Paris CDG (about 3 hours by train).

By train, Frankfurt Central Station is about 2.5 hours (change train in Mannheim, typically), while Paris Gare de l'Est is less than 2 hours (direct train).

See here how to get to the university and for some further visitor's info (including tourism) and a map (pdf) of the campus.

Information for Bachelor's and Master's students - credit points

The core program of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information, i.e. the lectures (26 Sept - 2 Dec 2022) on quantum information theory, will be accessible for first year's Master's students in mathematics, physics or computer science. Hence, the Focus Semester on Quantum Information will serve as an excellent opportunity to learn and specialize on quantum information at an early stage. There will be numerous introductory lectures to the field. The program is open for nonlocal students as well as for local students at Saarland University.

 

Students may obtain Credit Points throughout the Focus Semester on Quantum Information:

  • Seminar certificate (CP according to your study regulations, typically 5-7 CP): Attend your own selection of 8 talks of the Saarbrücken-Jülich Colloquium on Quantum Information; write a short summary (1-2 pages, mention title and speaker of the talk) of each of the talks; add an introduction (what is quantum information? 1 page); submit this seminar report to qitsemester@math.uni-sb.de before 31 January 2023, mentioning "seminar certificate" in the header of the email. The seminar reports will be read and graded by Moritz Weber.
  • Certificate for a „small“ lecture (typically 4.5-5 CP depending on your study regulations): Attend your own selection of 12-15 sessions of the lectures of the Focus Semester (attend all lectures of an individual lecturer); register for an oral exam via qitsemester@math.uni-sb.de before 31 January 2023 mentioning "small lecture certificate" in the header of the email; state in the email your name, your matriculation number, your field of study (incl. info on BSc/MSc), your semester, and your selection of the lectures on which the oral exam will be based on (like "lectures by X, Y and Z"). The examiner will be Moritz Weber. The oral exams will be approx. 30 minutes. There will be exam slots in December 2022, in January 2023 and in February/March 2023. You may state in your email your preferred weeks for the exam (like "week of 12-16 Dec or week of 9-13 Jan or week of ..."); mention at least three weeks.
  • Certificate for a „large“ lecture (typically 9-10 CP depending on your study regulations): as for the "small" lecture certificate, but with 25-30 sessions of lectures. [may not be combined with the "small" lecture certificate]
  • In case you are interested in follow up lectures/seminars in January 2023 or in the summer term 2023, let us know via qitsemester@math.uni-sb.de, mentioning "follow up lectures/seminars" in the header of your email.

Certificated may be graded, if needed according to your study regulations.

Please register for the Focus Semester via qitsemester@math.uni-sb.de! Only registered students may obtain credit points.

Also, it might be necessary to doublecheck with your study regulations.

Here is a link to the list of books  ("Semesterapparat") available in the library (building E2 3).

We plan to have further teaching activities in January/February 2023 (hence, AFTER the official end of the Focus Semester, until the end of the Saarbruecken lecture phase), like a seminar or a small lecture, in case there are sufficiently many students interested in it.

There will be follow up lectures and seminars on quantum information in 2023 and 2024. So, you may specialize on quantum information theory during your Master's studies in mathematics, physics or computer science at Saarland University. Also, you may write your Master's thesis with one of the local organizers of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information.

Information about restaurants

The following list contains a small choice of the culinary side of Saarbrücken.

  • Yedo (Vietnamese and Japanese)
  • Izakaya Hashimoto (Japanese)
  • Oishii (Japanese)
  • Kimdogo (Korean)
  • Taj Tandoori (Indian)
  • ALEX (Café)
  • Cafe Costbar
  • Cafe Luuc
  • Cafe und Bar Celona
  • L'Osteria (Italian)
  • Pizza Gotti
  • Die Burgerei (Burger)
  • Berliner Gemüse Döner
  • Café Especial (Mexican)
  • Ratskeller (German)
  • Kalinski Wurstwirtschaft & Gin Bar (Currywurst)
  • Schlachthof Brasserie (Steak)
  • Gusto Steakhouse
  • dean & david (Vegan)
  • masons Restaurant | taste the world
  • Henry's Eismanufaktur (Ice cream)
Workspaces for the weekend

On the weekend, you may use the following workspaces on campus.

  • SULB, B1 1 (Saturday 10-18, closed on Sundays and holidays)
  • library of the law faculty, B4 1 (Saturday 9-20, Sunday 13-19). When you go there for the first time, go to the information desk and say that you are part of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information.
Board game nights

The board game nights take place every second week, on Fridays, at 18:00 in Lecture Hall IV, building E2 4. The fixed dates so far: 30 Sept, 14 Oct, ...

Nonalcoholic drinks and snacks are provided - feel free to bring your own!

The board game nights are organized by Nina, Selina and Moritz (Sp.).

Seminar rooms for discussion or self-organized seminar

The following seminar rooms have been reserved for participants of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information. You may meet for discussions or self-organized seminars and talks.

until 24 October: Zeichensaal, E2 5, every day from 16-20

from 24 October: Seminar room 2, E2 5, everyday from 16-20 (except 10 November)

 

References

We will ask all lecturers to provide their notes and to give references.

Note that in the math library, building E2 3, there are a number of books  on the shelf "Semesterapparate", for the focus semester.

Financial support and free accommodation

There is limited financial support available covering accommodation. Please apply before 15 June 2022 when registering.

Poster

Download the poster and advertise the Focus Semester on Quantum Information!

Contact

The official email adress of the Focus Semester on Quantum Information is:

qitsemester at math.uni-sb.de