Grant: Alliance Grants

Turing's mathematical concept of a universal computing machine revolutionized science, technology, and business across the globe. For Turing's vision to materialize into the general-purpose computer, algorithms that could exploit the limited capabilities of early digital computers were crucial. Hardware and software innovation thus progressed in tandem for decades to usher in the Information Age. As the digital revolution was unraveling, a new computing notion - the universal quantum computer - was conceived, promising another technological boom. Mirroring the early digital age, quantum computing today hinges on algorithms that fully exploit limited hardware, which is also inherently sensitive to environmental noise. Inventing these algorithms is a decisive challenge in quantum science. Already in the early digital age, Turing envisioned machines that learn and reason. Today, we live in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), arguably the most disruptive technology since agriculture. The importance of successfully deploying the most powerful computing paradigm allowed by known physics to AI technologies can hardly be overstated. The main objective of this project is to deliver algorithmic primitives for quantum AI with neutral atoms. Concretely, the specific objectives of the proposed research are to elucidate dynamical phenomena governing information flow in neutral atom quantum processors, employ these phenomena as algorithmic components for classically intractable AI workloads, and certify the utility of developed methods via high-performance classical simulation benchmarks. The outcomes of this project will be fundamental physical principles for the description of Rydberg-blockaded neutral-atom arrays, efficient analog quantum primitives for machine learning and intelligent agent design, and standardized benchmarks for quantum advantage certification. In achieving its objectives, this project will provide enabling innovations for near- to mid-term quantum AI at industrial scale, a prospect with significant impacts for Canada and the world.