Circuit compilers for near-term quantum computers

The number of elementary gates in a quantum computation determines the runtime of the quantum computer. It is clearly advantageous to have faster computations that use fewer gates and "circuit compilation" is the art of optimizing and automating this process. For near-term quantum computers (without error correction) effective compilation is especially important because these devices will be noisy and this imposes a practical limit on the number of gates before an error becomes inevitable. Therefore, compilation protocols and software are crucial to whether we will be able to demonstrate a quantum advantage before full-blown error-corrected devices are available. This PhD project will develop compilation methods exploring random compilers and simulation of fermionic and bosonic interacting systems. This is a joint project between the University of Sheffield and Oxford University.

The project is a joint collaboration between the groups of Simon Benjamin in Oxford, and Earl Campbell in Sheffield. The project and student could be based at either university, according to the preference of the successful candidate. The studentship will be held at the chosen university and the student will be registered for a doctoral degree of the chosen university.