ACM today announced that Allen Liu is the recipient of the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award for his dissertation “Learning Theoretic Foundations for Understanding Quantum Systems,” toward a PhD earned at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Liu’s thesis reshapes our understanding of quantum systems through perspectives in learning theory. His dissertation resolved two major questions that have been considered central to understanding how to harness exotic quantum phenomena and use computing to simulate physics. Firstly, given many copies of a quantum state at thermal equilibrium, can we measure that quantum state and estimate its local interactions? Conversely, given a description of the local interactions of the quantum state and the temperature, can we prepare the state that describes what it looks like at equilibrium?
Liu developed groundbreaking algorithms that not only resolved these problems but proved a new physical law in the process. The quantum computing community is still trying to unravel the far-reaching implications of his work.
Honorable Mentions for the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award go to Gal Arnon, for his dissertation “New Advancements in Interactive Oracle Proofs: Theory, Practice, and Limitations,” toward a PhD earned at the Weizmann Institute of Science; and Rachit Nigam for his dissertation “Modular Abstractions for Efficient Hardware Design,” toward a PhD earned at Cornell University.
