Since arriving at Northeast in 2022, Yizhi You has focused his research on quantum many-body physics. This includes quantum computing, an emerging field that uses the principles of quantum physics to create machines that can operate faster than a conventional computer.
Your work has won him awards such as the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) which supports undergraduate faculty members who have the opportunity to serve as academic models in research and teaching. Now, He has new access.
The Research Center for the Advancement of Science (RCSA) has named Youna, an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern, as one of 24 recipients of the prestigious Cottrell Scholar Award. This honor provides academics pursuing a career in chemistry, physics or astronomy in the United States or Canada with research funding and networking opportunities.
“This is an exceptional group of teacher educators whose innovative work is driving discoveries in the physical sciences,” Eric Isaacs, President and CEO of RCSA said in a statement for this year’s group. “Their expertise and strengths will strengthen the 600-member network of researchers, leaders and mentors who are committed to pushing the boundaries of knowledge while shaping the future of science and technology education in the United States and Canada.”
He received the award for a research proposal called “A Route Map to Open Quantum Systems and Mixed States: Insights from Duality,” as part of which he and a group of postdocs will look at a quantum computing concept called dissipation which is when a quantum system loses information due to the surrounding environment.
You mentioned that a quantum computer uses units of fundamental information to include data called qubits. Unlike classical computing bits, which can only exist as 0 or 1, qubits can exist in many states, which enables quantum computers to calculate complex problems very quickly. These qubits are activated whenever scientists want to run programs. But corruption means that it would be more difficult for qubits to store and process information reliably.
“For a classical computer, this is not a problem, but for quantum computing, that distortion plays an important role,” You explained. “If you want to store information long-term, then you have to find out if dissipations can destroy that information.”
His research would look at how a new method called duality could be used to understand clarity. The second, you said, is a way of rewriting a difficult problem into an equivalent problem that is easy to understand.
The first award you received from NSF was to explore and advance the understanding of fractons, tiny particles that appear in certain materials and require energy to combine with other fractons to move (as opposed to electrons or protons). This research could help improve quantum properties, quantum field theory, and quantum information science, he told NGN at the time.
“One can take advantage of their knowledge in different areas for quantum computing,” he said.
He said that it is this kind of diversity that draws him to this area of research. His recent research can be used not only in quantum computing, but in quantum detection (measuring atomic activity to provide data for improved technology) and quantum communication (including the transfer of information between quantum systems), as he said that they all deal with noise and loss of information.
You plan to use the money from the Cottrell Scholar Award to buy devices known as graphite units to help investigate how noise and scattering affect quantum processes and how we can control and understand the effects. He also hopes to put some money into hiring postdocs to help him with his research.
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