Vlad Pribiag, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota 

 

2024 Experimental Physics Investigators

Vlad Pribiag, Ph.D.
Image Credit: Vlad Pribiag
 

Research Description

The ability to control the properties of quantum matter is essential for discovering new quantum phenomena and for developing future computing technologies. Matter with non-trivial topologies is of particular importance because it hosts protected quantum states that could lead to error-resilient quantum information storage and processing. Such states are typically realized by synthesizing new materials from atomic constituents, which is a laborious process and yields materials with fixed properties. In contrast, Vlad Pribiag’s project will use quantum devices based on semiconductors and superconductors to develop artificial quantum matter with properties that can be tuned in real-time, enabling potentially rapid insights to be gained into new quantum phenomena and paving the way for future computing technologies.

Dr. Pribiag’s proposed research program combines advanced superconductor-semiconductor materials, powerful nanofabrication techniques and low-temperature experiments to tackle the research problem outlined above. The full set of requirements for realizing tunable quantum states in solid state systems is not available on any other material platform. The research program will seek to: 1. establish the potential for realizing fully-tunable quantum matter (in any number of dimensions, not limited to just three as with typical crystals); 2. establish under what conditions the quantum states so obtained can be protected from outside perturbations; and (3) leverage the same basic approaches for developing computing hardware elements that can reconfigure themselves in order to facilitate tasks related to learning and artificial intelligence (AI).

Research Impact

If successful, the proposed work will develop a powerful experimental toolkit for hardware-based simulations of quantum matter, with unique potential for tunability and scalability. It will enable the realization of artificial quantum matter that is intrinsically multi-dimensional (beyond three dimensions). This approach could enable new concepts for encoding, controlling and stabilizing quantum information. In addition, the concepts developed in this project could also facilitate the development of new computing paradigms that would be capable of artificial intelligence at the hardware level, with potential benefits for speed and energy-efficiency over current AI approaches.

 
 

related links

Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative Science University of Minnesota, School of Physics & Astronomy Back

Education

PhD, Cornell University
MS, Cornell University
BS, University of Toronto

Affiliated Investigators