Justin Yirka

Research Interests / Education / Papers / Experience

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science
Quantum computing and theoretical computer science
Advised by Scott Aaronson at UT Austin

📢 Graduating in 2025. Looking for an industry position.

Curriculum VitaeQuantum ResumeGeneral Quantitative Resume
Contact: yirka@utexas.edu
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Research Interests

My research focuses on quantum computation and theoretical computer science.
Specific topics include complexity theory, Hamiltonian complexity, and quantum algorithms.
Some of my work has focused on the difficulty of computing properties in low-energy quantum systems, on quantifying the amount of “useful” information in a quantum state, and on the robustness of quantum algorithmic speed-ups compared to classical algorithms.
My PhD dissertation (in preparation) focuses on my contributions developing new areas of complexity theory (QPH, Hamiltonian problems beyond ground state energy, …) and new quantum algorithms.

In other words, I’m interested in what quantum computers can do, what they cannot do, and the structure that creates those differences.

📢 I plan to graduate in 2025 and am looking for a new position outside of academia.
My one-sentence summary: 10+ years in quantum computing, 7+ publications including QIP/TQC/CCC, 20+ presentations, 2 National Labs, and 8+ semesters teaching with demonstrated experience identifying research questions and leading projects.

Please reach out if you’re interested in my research or would like to discuss future opportunities!


Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science | The University of Texas at Austin (UT) | Expected 2025
Advised by Scott Aaronson.

M.S. in Computer Science | The University of Texas at Austin | 2022

B.S. in Computer Science | Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) | 2018
B.S. in Mathematical Sciences


Research Papers

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

There are 2 to 3 projects I expect to add to this list by mid-2025 (when I graduate). I’m happy to discuss ongoing projects one-on-one.

J. Yirka. Even quantum advice is unlikely to solve PP.

arXiv:2403.09994, March 2024.

S. Grewal and J. Yirka. The Entangled Quantum Polynomial Hierarchy Collapses.

arXiv:2401.01453, January 2024. CCC 2024.

J. Kallaugher, O. Parekh, K. Thompson, Y. Wang, J. Yirka. Complexity Classification of Product State Problems for Local Hamiltonians.

arXiv:2401.06725, January 2024. QIP 2024 and ITCS 2025.

J. Yirka and Y. Subasi. Qubit-efficient entanglement spectroscopy using qubit resets.

arXiv:2010.03080, 2020. Quantum.

S. Gharibian, S. Piddock, J. Yirka. Oracle complexity classes and local measurements on physical Hamiltonians.

arXiv:1909.05981, 2019. QIP 2020 and STACS 2020.

S. Gharibian, M. Santha, J. Sikora, A. Sundaram, J. Yirka. Quantum generalizations of the polynomial hierarchy with applications to QMA(2).

arXiv:1805.11139, 2018. computational complexity and MFCS 2018.

S. Gharibian and J. Yirka. The complexity of simulating local measurements on quantum systems.

arXiv:1606.05626, 2016. Quantum and TQC 2017.

Non-quantum computing work

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

2025. Involve.

J. Yirka. Evaluation of TCP header fields for data overhead efficiency.

2015. Poster only.

Research Experience


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

Last updated: January 25, 2025