The Center of Excellence for Quantum Technology QTF hood gives out an annual discovery prize for outstanding scientific work. This year's award was given to Marco Cattaneo from the Helteq group at the University of Helsinki (supervised by Sabrina Maniscalco) on 13th June at the Quantum get-together in Nuuksio.
The paper “Collision Models Can Efficiently Simulate Any Multipartite Markovian Quantum Dynamics” by Cattaneo and other authors discusses a new quantum algorithm for simulating open quantum systems.
– On a large scale, the study deals with how the particles following the laws of quantum mechanics are not in isolation but the electromagnetic field affects their evolution. In quantum computers, this causes electronic noise”, says Cattaneo.
– The collision models the algorithm creates allow us to simulate the dynamics of quantum particles, and thus we can tell how they behave with each other. This can reduce harmful errors on quantum computers.
According to the award criteria, the algorithm created by Cattaneo has a very wide applicability and especially opens new applications in the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics. It is also efficiently simulated on modern quantum computers and has already attracted the interest of a wide audience, which a significant amount of quotes during the last year point to. According to the award criteria, Marco Cattaneo has also contributed significantly in other works to the study of open quantum systems especially considering his career stage.
The prize amount is 1000 euros.
– The information about the award came so quickly that I have not planned exactly how to use the award amount. But it will allow me to attend several conferences and events in Europe during the summer, Cattaneo says.
The winners of the previous year will also be congratulated on the same occasion, as it has not been possible to organize a separate celebration for them for a couple of years. The 2020 award went to Bayan Karimi from Aalto University and the 2021 award to Janne Lehtinen and Emma Mykkänen from VTT.
This year, the award committee had two members, Professor Juha Muhonen from the University of Jyväskylä and Professor Natalia Ares from the University of Oxford.
The Helteq group, to which Cattaneo belongs, is part of InstituteQ, the foremost community of quantum professionals in Finland. Comprising of Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and VTT, InstituteQ coordinates and carries out top-level research in quantum science and technology.