Lana Mineh

PhaseCraft Ltd, Cohort 4

 PhaseCraft is a quantum software company founded by academics at the University of Bristol and UCL, whose goal is to get the most out of near-term quantum computers. After working with Lana on a short 3-month research project in her first year (abstract below), and having produced excellent results, Lana has started working with PhaseCraft on a PhD project which aims to tailor and optimise hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for use on near-term noisy quantum computers.

This collaboration has been very valuable for PhaseCraft. Lana's PhD work has produced very promising results so far, and will underpin future, commercially focused work on simulation of quantum systems. It formed a key part of the first completed research paper supported by the company. For Lana, a PhD with the CDT keeps her connected to academia, whilst working with PhaseCraft gives an interesting insight into how start-ups and industry function. 

Project B Abstract

 The (Fermi-)Hubbard model is of fundamental importance in the study of strongly interacting electronic systems. Developing our understanding of this model could lead to the design of revolutionary batteries, solar cells and high-temperature superconductors. Solving the Hubbard model appears to be hard for classical computers, yet has been predicted to be one of the earliest applications of near-term intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computers. One of the key quantum algorithms used to address this is the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE). This project will investigate the VQE algorithm, emulate it classically for small system sizes, develop optimisations for the algorithm, and determine its likely performance for larger-scale systems.