About me

Xiaodi Wu ( in simplified Chinese )

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Institute for Advanced Computer Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. I am also a Fellow at the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS).

I received my Phd in theoretical computer science in 2013 (advisor: Yaoyun Shi) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I received my B.S. degree in mathematics and physics in 2008 from the Academic Talent Program, Tsinghua University.

Before coming to Maryland, I was an Assistant Professor in the Computer and Information Science Department at the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2017. Before that, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2013 to 2015 (advisor: Aram Harrow, Scott Aaronson, Edward Farhi and Peter Shor). I was also a Simons Research Fellow at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at Berkeley, for the program of Quantum Hamiltonian Complexity in Spring 2014 (advisor: Umesh Vazirani). I also spent two summers at the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo as a student intern (advisor: John Watrous).

Research Interests

My research aims to achieve end-to-end quantum applications by investigating both the theoretical study of quantum information and computation and the software tool-chain and system of quantum computers.

In particular, it aims to contribute to the development of quantum information and computation through the study in theoretical computer science, which includes:

• quantum computational complexity

• quantum algorithms for optimization and machine learning

• quantum cryptography

• quantum entanglement and sum-of-squares (SoS) proofs.

It also aims to contribute to formal methods and programming languages in quantum computing, which includes:

• verification of sequential, parallel, and concurrent quantum programs

• abstractions for (domain-specific) quantum algorithms and novel semantic constructs (e.g., quantum recursion)

• error-aware, reliable quantum program synthesis, especially optimized for near-term quantum applications

• formally verified software toolchain for quantum computing (e.g. a certified optimizing complier for quantum programs)

I am also interested in collaborating with experimentalists. Check my Research Overview for details of my existing and on-going projects.

News

• 12/2018, check our showcase of CMSC657 course projects and new lecture notes here !!

• 11/2018, our research papers Quantum SDP Solvers: Large Speed-ups, Optimality, and Applications to Quantum Learning and Quantum algorithms and lower bounds for convex optimization will appear at QIP 2019.

• 10/2018, I am helping manage the NSF Student Travel Grant (CCF-1840547) for QIP 2019. Please submit your application according to the instruction by AoE November 12th, 2018.

• 10/2018, our research paper Quantitative Robustness Analysis of Quantum Programs will appear at the 46th ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL 2019).

• 09/2018, I am teaching Introduction to Quantum Information Processing (CMSC 657) in Fall 2018. There is also a RIT seminar on quantum information and a student-led reading group on J. Watrous’ The Theory of Quantum Information. Check here for details.

• 09/2018, I am organizing a reading group on quantum programming languages in Fall 2018.

• 09/2018, I am organizing a workshop on the intersection of machine learning and quantum information (Videos and Slides NOW AVAILABLE) at QuICS on September 24 - 28, 2018.

• 03/2018, I regularly maintain a Mini-Library on the self-learning materials and references for studying quantum information.

• 01/2017, our research papers General randomness amplification with non-signaling security and Limitations of semidefinite programs for separable states and entangled games appeared at QIP 2017.

• 01/2017, our research paper Invariants of Quantum Programs: Characterizations and Generation appeared at the 44th ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL 2017).

Research supported by

National Science Foundation (NSF)

Department of Energy (DOE)

Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)

Contact

Office: ATL 3247 / AVW 3257

Address:
Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science
3100 Atlantic Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Email: xwu (at) cs.umd.edu