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Research Associate in Quantum Error Correction in a dual species Rydberg Array (QuERy)

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Research Associate in Quantum Error Correction in a dual species Rydberg Array (QuERy)

A position is available for a Research Associate to work on the Quantum Error Correction in a dual species Rydberg Array (QuERy) experiment. The project is part of a multi-partner collaboration, Quantum Advantage In Quantitative Quantum Simulation (QQQS), funded by an EPSRC Programme Grant.

Applications are invited for a Research Associate to join the Ultracold Matter and Quantum Technology within the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde. We are seeking a highly motivated and qualified applicant to work in the neutral atom quantum computing team led by Prof. Jonathan Pritchard developing a new dual species cryogenic platform for quantum simulation and quantum computing. This project will exploit dual species arrays of Rubidum and Cesium within a 7 K cryostat to enable cross-talk free mid-circuit readout, high-fidelity interspecies gates to create a programmable platform for quantum computation and simulation. The successful applicant will be responsible for the development of the experimental platform, as well as benchmarking new techniques and protocols for implementing quantum algorithms targeting quantum simulation of novel topological phases as well as exploring regimes relevant to quantum error correction and mitigation.

As a Research Associate, under the general guidance of a research leader, you will develop research objectives and proposals, play a lead role in relation to a specific project/s or part of a broader project, conduct individual and/or collaborative research, contribute to the development of new research methods, identify sources of funding, and contribute to the securing of funds for research, including drafting grant proposals and planning for future proposals. You will write up research work for publication, individually or in collaboration with colleagues, and disseminate the results via peer reviewed journal publications and presentation at conferences. You will join external networks to share information and ideas, inform the development of research objectives and to identify potential sources of funding. You will collaborate with colleagues to ensure that research advances inform departmental teaching effort and you will collaborate with colleagues on the development of knowledge exchange activities by, for example, participating in initiatives which establish research links with industry and influence public policy and the professions. You will supervise student projects, provide advice to students and contribute to teaching as required by, for example, running tutorials and supervising practical work. You will contribute in a developing capacity to Department/School, Faculty and/or University administrative and management functions and committees and engage in continuous professional development.

For more details see the project webpage or apply here.

Availability: Open
Start date: Spring 2026
Contact: Prof. Jonathan Pritchard

Graph optimisation using a neutral atom quantum computer

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Graph optimisation using a neutral atom quantum computer

Quantum computation offers a revolutionary approach to information processing, providing a route to efficiently solve classically hard problems such as factorisation and optimisation as well as unlocking new applications in material science and quantum chemistry that could in future be scaled up to accelerate drug design or optimised materials for aerospace and manufacturing. Whilst large-scale applications will require thousands of qubits, in the near-term small (100 qubit) quantum processors will reach a regime in which the quantum hardware is able to solve problems not accessible even on the largest available conventional supercomputers.

This project will utilise the SQuAre hardware platform for quantum computing based on scalable arrays of neutral atoms that is able to overcome the challenges to scaling of competing technologies, offering programmable control of up to 225 identical and high quality atomic qubits.

Already our team has demonstrated the highest single-qubit gate fidelities for large scale arrays on this hardware, and pioneered new approaches to realising weighted graph problems using locally addressed light-shifts. The aim of this PhD is to design and test new analogue and digital algorithms tailored for the neutral-atom platform to target industrially-relevant computation and optimisation problems, and perform pioneering demonstrations on the SQuAre system.

A major focus of this work will be developing new approaches to investigating qudit-encodings relevant for graph colouring problems, and to extend hardware performance to implement high-fidelity multi-qubit gate operations to enable efficient implementation of complex digital algorithms.

For more details see the project webpage or apply here.

Availability: Open
Start date: October 2026
Contact: Prof. Jonathan Pritchard

Quantum Error Correction in a dual species Rydberg Array (QuERy)

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum Error Correction in a dual species Rydberg Array (QuERy)

This project seeks to develop a dual-species platform for quantum computing and simulation with neutral atoms, providing a route to implementing active quantum error correction essential for future scaling beyond 100 qubits. This hardware will simultaneously provide a versatile platform for analogue computing and simulation due to the ability to independently control inter- and intra-species interactions, providing a route to performing studies of complex many-body physics as well as increasing the diversity of real-world optimisation problems that can be tackled using neutral atom hardware.

Over the last decade, neutral atoms have emerged as one of the most promising platforms for quantum information processing, with a major advantage over competing technologies arising from the ability to scale to large numbers of identical qubits as required for performing practical quantum computing. To date, several experiments have demonstrated trapping of qubit arrays with > 256 qubits. To couple neutral atom qubits, highly excited Rydberg states are used which have extremely large electric dipole moments giving rise to strong and controllable interactions. These can be exploited to perform high fidelity multi-qubit gates, with F>0.95 demonstrated for two qubits and intrinsic fidelities of F>0.995 for multi-qubit gates, or for performing quantum simulation of controllable spin models as required for studying materials or solving optimisation problems.

Whilst there has been significant experimental progress, a number of challenges currently limit scaling to larger array sizes for hardware based on a single atomic species. The first arises from finite vacuum lifetime due to collisions with background atoms ejecting atoms from the trap. For room temperature operation, this is typically 10s for 1 atom but means only 10ms for a 1000 atom array. This can be solved by moving to operation at cryogenic temperatures down to 4 K where the cold surfaces cause significant increase in lifetime upwards of > 6000 seconds meaning recovery of times > 6s even for 1000 atoms. The next issue lies in the long readout time for neutral atom qubits, typically requiring 10-50 ms to readout qubit states. With a single species, the cross-talk and scattered light mean readout is destructive across the whole array, with no clear pathway to performing local measurements required for error correction to reach fault tolerant operation.

This project will tackle these two challenges by establishing a dual-species neutral atom array within a 4 K cryostat to obtain enhanced vacuum lifetimes and providing the ability to perform measurement on one species (the readout qubits) whilst retaining coherent quantum states on the other species (the logical qubits). This provides a route to overcome challenges with local addressing and cross talk as the two species operate at optical wavelengths separated by 10s of nm.

For more details see the project webpage or apply here.

Availability: Open
Start date: October 2026
Contact: Dr Jonathan Pritchard

A review and collection of metrics and benchmarks for quantum computers: definitions, methodologies and software

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Speeding up quantum measurement using space-time trade-off

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A quantum wire approach to weighted combinatorial graph optimisation problems

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Demonstration of weighted graph optimization on a Rydberg atom array using local light-shifts

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Graph Coloring via Quantum Optimization on a Rydberg-Qudit Atom Array

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Interspecies Förster resonances for Rb-Cs Rydberg d -states for enhanced multi-qubit gate fidelities

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Benchmarking the algorithmic performance of near-term neutral atom processors

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum Error Correction (QuERy)

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Object detection and rangefinding with quantum states using simple detection

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Demonstration of a Quantum Gate Using Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0000

High-fidelity multiqubit Rydberg gates via two-photon adiabatic rapid passage

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Strong coupling and active cooling in a finite-temperature hybrid atom-cavity system

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Optimal State Choice for Rydberg-Atom Microwave Sensors

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Hybrid quantum devices: Guest editorial

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Scalable Qubit Arrays (SQuAre)

Sat, 01 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Rydberg atom quantum technologies

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Entanglement of neutral-atom qubits with long ground-Rydberg coherence times

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Sub-kilohertz excitation lasers for quantum information processing with Rydberg atoms

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

ARC:Alkali Rydberg Calculator

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

ARC: An open-source library for calculating properties of alkali Rydberg atoms

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Single atom imaging with an sCMOS camera

Sun, 01 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Optimized coplanar waveguide resonators for a superconductor–atom interface

Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Long working distance objective lenses for single atom trapping and imaging

Fri, 01 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Measurement of holmium Rydberg series through magneto-optical trap depletion spectroscopy

Thu, 01 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Microwave control of the interaction between two optical photons

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum Lidar

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Hybrid atom-photon quantum gate in a superconducting microwave resonator

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Storage and Control of Optical Photons Using Rydberg Polaritons

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Fractional photon-assisted tunneling of ultra-cold atoms in periodically shaken double-well lattices

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Microwave dressing of Rydberg dark states

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Optical non-linearity in a dynamical Rydberg gas

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Quantum interference in interacting three-level Rydberg gases: coherent population trapping and electromagnetically induced transparency

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Monitoring hydraulic processes with automated time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ALERT)

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Laser frequency stabilization to excited state transitions using electromagnetically induced transparency in a cascade system

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Electromagnetically induced transparency of an interacting cold Rydberg ensemble

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000