Justin Yirka

Interests / Education / Experience / Publications / Presentations / News

Quantum Computing Researcher
Future Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin (beginning Fall 2019)

My CV (resume): Curriculum Vitae

Contact: Yirkajk@vcu.edu

Other profiles:

See My CV for full details on my Research, Awards, Funding, Teaching Experience, and Service.

Research Interests

Quantum computing: what can quantum computers do, what can’t they do, and the structure that creates those differences.

Specific areas I’m interested in include quantum computational complexity, algorithms, optimization, and connections to applications.

Many of my interests are theoretical, but I also find motivation in efforts to develop and apply quantum computers.

Education

The University of Texas at Austin, beginning Fall 2019
Ph.D. in Computer Science

Virginia Commonwealth University, May 2018 (Concurrent / Dual degrees)
B.S. in Computer Science
B.S. in Mathematical Sciences
-- Minor in Physics
I was supported by a VCU Presidential Scholarship ($110,000).

Research Experience

Summer school / Research Assistant
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Summer 2019
Quantum computing summer school program: 2 weeks of courses and 8 weeks of research assistantship.
Visiting Researcher
University of Paderborn, Germany
(3 weeks) November 2018
Collaboration with Sevag Gharibian, Ph.D.
Topic: Complexity theory and algorithms. Studied QMA_1-hardness of the quantum satisfaction problem (k-QSAT) given qudits of lower dimensions (i.e. improving on current necessary dimensions).
Research Assistant
Graph Theory Computational Discovery Lab, VCU
Summer 2018
Supervisor: Craig Larson, Ph.D.
Topic: Automated conjecturing and graph theory. Assisted with programming and open-source project management.
NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates / Undergraduate Researcher
Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), University of Maryland
Summer 2017
Supervisor: Andrew Childs, Ph.D.
Topic: Quantum tomography. Investigated minimum number of Pauli observables necessary to identify a pure state.
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Quantum Computing Lab, VCU
2015 - 2016
Supervisor: Sevag Gharibian, Ph.D.
Topic: Quantum computational complexity. Studied quantum oracle classes (e.g. P^QMA[log]) and complexity of local physical problems. Helped develop “quantum PH” and “quantum Toda’s Theorem” (QCPH ⊆ P^PP^PP).

Journal Publications

S. Gharibian and J. Yirka. The complexity of simulating local measurements on quantum systems. Accepted to Quantum in 2019. Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.05626. 2016.

Preprints

S. Gharibian, S. Piddock, and J. Yirka. Oracle complexity classes and local measurements on physical Hamiltonians. In preparation.
S. Gharibian, M. Santha, J. Sikora, A. Sundaram, and J. Yirka. Quantum generalizations of the polynomial hierarchy with applications to QMA(2). Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.11139. April 2018.

Conference Presentations

S. Gharibian, S. Piddock, and J. Yirka. Oracle complexity classes and local measurements on physical Hamiltonians.
- Poster by S. Piddock at 14th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication, and Cryptography (TQC). College Park, MD, USA, June 2019.
- Poster by S. Piddock at Workshop on Quantum Computing Theory in Practice (QCTIP). Bristol, UK, April 2019.
- Poster by J. Yirka at 22nd Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP). Boulder, CO, USA, Jan. 2019.
- Contributed talk by J. Yirka at 18th Asian Quantum Information Science Conference (AQIS). Nagoya, Japan, Sept. 2018.
S. Gharibian, M. Santha, J. Sikora, A. Sundaram, and J. Yirka. Quantum generalizations of the polynomial hierarchy with applications to QMA(2).
- Poster by A. Sundaram at 22nd Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP). Boulder, CO, USA, Jan. 2019.
- Contributed talk by A. Sundaram at 18th Asian Quantum Information Science Conference (AQIS). Nagoya, Japan, Sept. 2018. – “Long”/plenary talk: top 7% of submissions.
- Contributed talk by A. Sundaram at 43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS). Liverpool, UK, Aug. 2018.
S. Gharibian and J. Yirka. The complexity of simulating local measurements on quantum systems.
- Contributed talk by S. Gharibian at 12th Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication, and Cryptography (TQC). Paris, France, 2017.
- Poster by J. Yirka at 20th Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP). Seattle, USA, 2017. Presented under a different title.
J. Yirka. Evaluation of TCP header fields for data overhead efficiency.
- Poster by J. Yirka at 30th National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). Asheville, NC, USA, 2016.
- Poster by J. Yirka at VCU Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity. Richmond, VA, USA, 2015. – Awarded “Launch Award for Outstanding Research Poster”.

See My CV for full details on my Research, Awards, Funding, Teaching Experience, and Service.

News:

April 20 – Beginning in the fall, I will be joining the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin!
April 9 – I’ve been awarded an Honorable Mention by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program.
February 5 – I’ve accepted a position with the Quantum Computing Summer School at Los Alamos National Labs for this June to August.
January 24 – I’m now volunteering 3 hours per week as a tutor for remedial Algebra students at a local high school.
November 17 – I will be attending the Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP) in Boulder, Colorado from January 12 to 18. My coauthors and I will present posters for both our recent papers.
Thank you to the organizers/NSF for awarding me a $400 travel grant!.

Last updated: June 12, 2019