Connecting quantum computing to network theory

To understand is to create new connections, to find links between something we do not know and what we know well. Understanding many-body quantum systems – collections of many quantum particles — holds the promise to bring us a step closer to building quantum computers, extremely fast and efficient machines that will help us solve problems that classical ones cannot handle. The peculiar nature of quantum interactions, however, makes this an arduous enterprise.

Researchers in the ICTP’s Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (CMSP) section, including ICTP scientist Marcello Dalmonte and Tiago Mendes-Santos, a researcher at the Paris-based quantum computer startup company PASQAL, have recently found an important connection between these intricate systems and network theory. This could help us tackle the complexity of many-body quantum systems, and therefore help us build more efficient quantum computers. Their results were published in 2024 in the prestigious journal Physical Review X.