Justin Yirka

Quantum Computing Researcher at Blanqet
Ph.D. in Computer Science
Quantum Computing: complexity theory, quantum algorithms, and real-world applications

Resume ⸻ Curriculum Vitae

Contact: JustinYirka@gmail.com

Other profiles:

About Me

I have worked in quantum computing research since 2015. I completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin in 2025, advised by Scott Aaronson. My research focused on quantum computation and theoretical computer science, especially complexity theory, Hamiltonian complexity, and quantum algorithms.
In other words, I studied what quantum computers can do, what they cannot do, and the structure that creates those differences.

Some of my projects have explored the difficulty of computing properties in low-energy quantum systems, quantifying the amount of useful information in a quantum state, and the robustness of quantum algorithmic speed-ups to changes in the query input model.

Now, I am now a Quantum Computing Researcher at Blanqet, a startup pursuing real-world applications of quantum computation and quantum communication.

Fun facts: I’ve traveled to 10+ countries and attended 17+ major conferences. I’ve visited 25+ US states and lived in Maryland, New Mexico, Texas, Virginia, and (soon) Pennsylvania.
In high school and college (club), I played lacrosse.

Education

The University of Texas at Austin (UT)

Ph.D. in Computer Science | May 2025
M.S. in Computer Science | 2022
Advised by Scott Aaronson
Dissertation “Quantum complexity of physically inspired problems and computational resources”, doi:10.26153/tsw/61157

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

B.S. in Computer Science | 2018
B.S. in Mathematical Sciences | 2018 (dual degrees)

Work Experience

Quantum Computing Researcher | Blanqet | August 2025 - Present
Researcher for a UChicago-affiliated startup focused on real-world applications of quantum computing and quantum communication. Blanqet is based in Chicago, and I work remotely from Austin. I am full-time employee #2 at Blanqet.
Check out the group of founders here, including Scott Aaronson, David Awschalom, Bill Fefferman, Liang Jiang, and more.
R&D Intern | Sandia National Laboratories | Summer 2023 - May 2025
Advised by Ojas Parekh and John Kallaugher
Topic: Hardness of approximating product states solutions for Hamiltonian optimization problems. Novel variant of Grover’s (fault-tolerant) search algorithm with an alternative input model.
Graduate Student Researcher | Los Alamos National Laboratories | Summer 2019
Advised by Yigit Subasi
Topic: Near-term (NISQ) quantum algorithms. Designed low-width noise-resilient algorithms for entanglement spectroscopy with error mitigation using qubit resets. Validated algorithms on Honeywell (Quantinuum) ion-trap device.
Research Assistant | Graph Theory Computational Discovery Lab, VCU | Summer 2018
Supervised by Craig Larson
Topic: Automated conjecturing software applied to graph theory.
Undergraduate Researcher (REU) | QuICS, University of Maryland | Summer 2017
Advised by Andrew Childs, Jianxin Chen, and Amir Kalev
Topic: Pure-state quantum tomography.
Undergraduate Research Assistant | Quantum Computing Lab, VCU | 2015 - 2016
Advised by Sevag Gharibian
Topic: Complexity theory. Hamiltonian complexity beyond ground state energy, problems beyond QMA (e.g. P^QMA[log]), quantum polynomial hierarchy, and “quantum Toda’s Theorem” (QCPH ⊆ P^PP^PP).

Research Papers

Click on a paper to expand and see the publication history and relevant links.

Quantum search with in-place queries
Blake Holman, Ronak Ramachandran, and Justin Yirka
TQC 2025
arXiv:2504.03620, 2025

Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication, and Cryptography (TQC), 2025. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2025.1
Video available here
arXiv:2504.03620, 2025

A note on the complexity of the spectral gap problem
Justin Yirka
arXiv:2503.02747, 2025

arXiv:2503.02747, 2025

Even quantum advice is unlikely to solve PP
Justin Yirka
Theory of Computing
arXiv:2403.09994, 2024

Theory of Computing 21(7): 1-13, 2025. doi:10.4086/toc.2025.v021a007
arXiv:2403.09994 and ECCC:TR24-052, 2024

The Entangled Quantum Polynomial Hierarchy collapses
Sabee Grewal and Justin Yirka
CCC 2024
arXiv:2401.01453, 2024

Computational Complexity Conference (CCC), 2024. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.CCC.2024.6
arXiv:2401.01453 and ECCC:TR24-006, 2024
Poster available here

Complexity classification of product state problems for local Hamiltonians
John Kallaugher, Ojas Parekh, Kevin Thompson, Yipu Wang, and Justin Yirka
QIP 2024 and ITCS 2025
arXiv:2401.06725, 2024

Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS), 2025. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.63
Video available here
Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP), 2024
Video available here and slides here
arXiv:2401.06725, 2024
Poster available here
Additional slides from a 2024 seminar talk at UT available here

Qubit-efficient entanglement spectroscopy using qubit resets
Justin Yirka and Yigit Subasi
Quantum
arXiv:2010.03080, 2020

Quantum, 5:535, 2021. doi:10.22331/q-2021-09-02-535
Conference for Young Quantum Information Scientists (YQIS), 2021
Slides available here
APS March Meeting, 2021
Asian Quantum Information Science Conference (AQIS), 2020
Video available here
arXiv:2010.03080, 2020

Oracle complexity classes and local measurements on physical Hamiltonians
Sevag Gharibian, Stephen Piddock, and Justin Yirka
QIP 2020 and STACS 2020
arXiv:1909.05981, 2019

Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS), 2020. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2020.20
Conference on Quantum Information Processing (QIP), 2020
Video available here and slides here
Contributed talk at Asian Quantum Information Science Conference (AQIS), 2018
Slides available here
arXiv:1909.05981, 2019
Poster available here
Seminar by Sev in "Quantum computing in isolation" series available here

Quantum generalizations of the polynomial hierarchy with applications to QMA(2)
Sevag Gharibian, Miklos Santha, Jamie Sikora, Aarthi Sundaram, and Justin Yirka
computational complexity and MFCS 2018
arXiv:1805.11139, 2018

Computational Complexity, 31(12), 2022. doi:10.1007/s00037-022-00231-8
Asian Quantum Information Science Conference (AQIS), 2018
“Long”/plenary talk: top 7% of submissions
Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS), 2018. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.58
arXiv:1805.11139, 2018

The complexity of simulating local measurements on quantum systems
Sevag Gharibian and Justin Yirka
Quantum and TQC 2017
arXiv:1606.05626, 2016

Quantum, 3(189), 2019. doi:10.22331/q-2019-09-30-189
Conference on the Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication, and Cryptography (TQC), 2017. doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.TQC.2017.2
arXiv:1606.05626, 2016
Poster available here
Seminar by Sev at Leibniz Universität Hannover available here

Non-quantum computing work

New conditions for graph Hamiltonicity
N. Bushaw, V. Gupta, C. Larson, S. Loeb, M. Norge, J. Parrish, N. Van Cleemput, J. Yirka, and G. Wu
Involve, 2025

Involve, a Journal of Mathematics, 18(1):79–89, 2025. doi:10.2140/involve.2025.18.79

Evaluation of TCP header fields for data overhead efficiency
Justin Yirka
Poster only, 2015

Awarded Launch Award for Outstanding Research Poster at VCU Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creativity, 2015.

Last updated: Februrary 26, 2026