Diego García Martín
Figuring out the actual power of quantum computers.
Not an easy task.
What I do
Unfortunately, quantum computers are not general-purpose machines that will vastly speed up any computer task or calculation. Instead, they are highly-specialized devices that will be able to solve some particular problems beyond what is possible with standard (so-called classical) computers. Those problems possess mathematical structures that make them suitable for quantum computers but not classical ones.
I’m a postdoctoral researcher studying what problems quantum computers may be good at.
Why it matters
Determining what problems may enjoy a quantum advantage is arguably the most pressing question for the field of theoretical quantum computing. Only a few problems with exponential speed ups have been found, and the practical relevance of many of those problems is still unclear (breaking cryptography being an exception). Therefore, wondering what we are going to use quantum computers for after we poured billions into building them seems like the right question to ask.