Abstract

What will quantum computers be useful for?  How will they be used?  When can we start expecting benefits?  In the first part of my talk I will discuss notions of quantum utility; give a high-level picture of what quantum computers actually do; identify core tasks at which quantum computers excel (as well as some tasks not well-suited for quantum computers); identify considerations for fault tolerance and integration with classical computers; and discuss several promising applications of quantum computers. In the latter part I will take a closer look at approaches to, and challenges faced in, using quantum computers to solve differential equations, a workhorse of engineering.

Biography

Dr. Ryan Bennink is the Deputy Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory-led Quantum Science Center, and also leads the Quantum Computational Science Group at ORNL. With a Ph.D. in optics from the University of Rochester, Ryan joined ORNL in 2004 as a Wigner Fellow where he developed state-of-the-art entangled photon sources for quantum information science applications. For the past 15 years his research has covered a broad range of topics in quantum computer science including algorithms, properties of quantum circuits, characterization of hardware errors, simulation of fault tolerance, and resource analysis.