[QIP-Sem] MIT Quantum Information Processing Seminar Announcement

[QIP-Sem Mailing List]

Next week's MIT QIP seminar will take place on Monday, May 17 at 
16:00 in 4-237, and features:


Quantum Computing, Zeroes of Zeta Functions & Approximate Counting

by Wim van Dam (CMI Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT)

ABSTRACT

In this talk I describe a possible connection between quantum 
computing and Zeta functions of finite field equations that is 
inspired by the 'spectral approach' to the Riemann conjecture.  The 
assumption is that the zeroes of such Zeta functions correspond to 
the eigenvalues of finite dimensional unitary operators of natural 
quantum mechanical systems.  To model the desired quantum systems I 
use the notion of universal, efficient quantum computation.

Using eigenvalue estimation, such quantum systems are able to 
approximately count the number of solutions of the specific finite 
field equations with an accuracy that does not appear to be feasible 
classically. For certain equations (Fermat hypersurfaces) I show that 
one can indeed model their Zeta functions with efficient quantum 
algorithms, which gives some evidence in favour of the proposal.


Last seminar of the term; have a cool summer!
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