Emilie Huffman, now Assistant Professor of Physics at Wake Forest University, investigates calculations at the intersection of particle physics and condensed matter physics, research stemming from her 2019 to 2025 postdoctoral work at Perimeter Institute. Huffman focuses on quantum critical phenomena, where the number of states doubles with each added particle. She seeks ways to study these systems in polynomial time, aiming to make quantum computers more robust against environmental disturbances.

Quantum Criticality Drives Robustness for Quantum Computing

Research at Wake Forest University leverages a combination of computational techniques to expand the scale of modeled quantum systems, enabling the study of more complex interactions. Huffman’s approach pairs a technique with ways to study systems in polynomial time, allowing investigation of critical phenomena. Addressing a key limitation in building practical quantum computers, qubit sensitivity to environmental disturbances, Huffman’s work explores manipulating materials to achieve phases resistant to external interference. This hardware-focused approach seeks to create stable quantum states through external controls, rather than relying solely on error correction within the quantum processor itself.

Huffman’s background, cultivated during a 2019 to 2025 postdoctoral fellowship at the Perimeter Institute, provided a foundation for this interdisciplinary research. There, she developed both classical and quantum computing algorithms, allowing her to integrate diverse ideas into a cohesive research program. As a PSI Fellow at Perimeter, she also gained experience teaching students in the PSI master’s program, further refining her ability to explore complex theoretical concepts. She states the goal is to “find ways to make them robust, then we can build on them, or scale up our quantum computer in a better way.”

Polynomial Time Algorithms Address Many-Particle Quantum Systems

Calculating the behavior of quantum systems rapidly becomes intractable as complexity increases; the number of possible states doubles with each added particle, quickly exceeding computational limits. However, scientists are developing techniques to study these systems within a framework, bringing calculations back to a human timescale. Huffman focuses on refining methods for these polynomial-time calculations, motivated by the potential to unlock insights into quantum critical behavior.

These phenomena differ from everyday phase transitions, such as water boiling or a magnet losing its magnetism, and represent a more subtle shift in quantum states. The ability to model these transitions efficiently is crucial for understanding how to facilitate specific quantum phases and ultimately, for building more robust quantum computers. Her group at Wake Forest currently supports two graduate students and is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to expand these efforts.

This expanded modeling capacity is enabling investigation into phase transitions, to learn about how we can facilitate certain types of phases. This combination of algorithmic development and pedagogical experience positions her to advance the field of quantum simulation, exploring how to make quantum states more stable and scalable. She explains the goal is to push the boundaries of what is computationally possible with simulations.

Quantum Phase Transitions Differ from Thermal Transitions

Quantum phase transitions diverge from more familiar thermal transitions through the fundamental source of change driving them; while boiling water or demagnetization result from heat-induced fluctuations, quantum transitions stem from quantum fluctuations even at absolute zero. These quantum fluctuations, not temperature, instigate a shift in a material’s behavior, demanding a distinctly quantum mechanical explanation.

Altering external factors like pressure or magnetic fields can trigger these transitions at specific critical values, leading to new phases of matter. Huffman’s research utilizes numerical methods to investigate how these quantum phase transitions occur and to identify novel phases, with implications for quantum computing robustness.

A key benefit of understanding these transitions lies in the potential to create phases exhibiting resistance to environmental disturbances, a critical challenge in building stable quantum computers. “Typically, if you have a phase that has, say, some entanglement or some fragmentation or a certain topology, there can be resistance to disturbances in the environment,” she explains, highlighting the connection between quantum criticality and practical applications.

These transitions can exhibit enhanced symmetry and remain incompletely understood, presenting a frontier for theoretical and computational physics. The polynomial-time methods she develops are crucial for tackling these complexities, allowing researchers to study systems in a human timescale.

Fuzzy Sphere Technique Calculates Universal Critical Numbers

The fuzzy sphere technique offers a significant reduction in computational demand when modeling quantum systems, allowing researchers to determine universal numbers governing critical phenomena by avoiding the expense of continuous space calculations. Unlike traditional methods requiring increasingly complex calculations as system size grows, this approach circumvents the need for extensive computational power by effectively simulating larger systems with fewer “orbitals,” a concept analogous to reducing the granularity of graph paper while still capturing essential features.

This efficiency stems from the technique’s ability to reveal universal behavior without needing to meticulously map every interaction within a vast system. Combining the fuzzy sphere technique with Quantum Monte Carlo, a classical computational method, expands the scope of investigation.

Wake Forest Research Group Studies Critical Phenomena Numerically

Emilie Huffman’s research group at Wake Forest University is focused on developing computational methods to analyze quantum systems, a challenge where resource demands escalate exponentially. This limitation motivates the group’s pursuit of algorithms capable of operating within feasible timeframes. Wake Forest University’s graduate programs specialize in the sciences, with a strong emphasis on undergraduate teaching, providing a focused environment for Huffman’s work.

Her group currently comprises two students and is expanding with the search for a postdoctoral researcher, all dedicated to calculating critical phenomena in polynomial time. This approach allows for the exploration of models previously inaccessible due to computational constraints, facilitating the investigation of phases that could yield robust quantum states.

Huffman’s work builds on algorithms for both classical and quantum computers, integrating diverse research threads into quantum simulations. The ultimate goal of identifying these robust states is to improve the resilience of quantum computers, a field where external disturbances can easily disrupt calculations.

Huffman described the research as seeking “what type of external things can we do to a material to put it into a phase that creates these robust states that are resistant to disturbance.” Her time as a PSI Fellow at Perimeter Institute, where she taught students in the PSI master’s program, provided a foundation for developing these research threads and establishing her program at Wake Forest.

Source: https://perimeterinstitute.ca/news/emilie-huffman-seeking-understand-quantum-phase-transitions

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