Liang Jiang, a quantum theorist who has made important contributions to secure quantum communication over long distances, has joined the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) at the University of Chicago as a professor.
Jiang was previously an associate professor of applied physics and physics at Yale University. At Pritzker Molecular Engineering, Jiang will continue his research in quantum theory and expand his efforts to help make quantum computing and communication technology scalable and more accessible.
“Over the last several years, there has been a rapid growth of quantum research efforts at the University of Chicago, and there are many excellent collaborators and colleagues here,” he said. “I’m excited to be part of this large, collective effort.”
As a theorist, Jiang addresses quantum decoherence, which causes quantum systems to lose their power and behave more like classical systems. He works to develop quantum control and error correction techniques to help quantum systems better perform computation and communication. He has also investigated quantum information processing with superconducting circuits and quantum transduction with hybrid quantum devices.
At PME, he’s interested in working with experimental collaborators using various physical platforms for quantum technology, and he hopes to understand the fundamental limits of quantum devices. “That will help guide future experiments about what we are ultimately able to do,” he said.
“We are investing heavily in quantum engineering, and Liang adds enormous value to our growing team,” said Matthew Tirrell, dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. “We are enthusiastic about his contributions as a researcher, and we look forward to having him as a professor to help train the next generation of quantum engineers.”
By joining PME, Jiang also becomes part of the Chicago Quantum Exchange, an intellectual hub and community of researchers with the common goal of advancing academic and industrial efforts in the science and engineering of quantum information. Members include UChicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin Madison, and Northwestern University.
“Collaboration is crucial on all these projects, and the exchange provides a space where we can come together and discuss new ideas,” Jiang said. “It’s unlikely that a single lab will be able to build a large-scale quantum computer. It will require many researchers across institutions to take quantum technology out of the lab and have it impact everyone’s daily lives. If we could have that kind of impact, that would be a great success.”
“We are excited that Liang has joined the quantum engineering program at the University of Chicago to further strengthen our leadership in this rapidly growing area of science and technology,” said David Awschalom, the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and director of the Chicago Quantum Exchange. “He brings a unique perspective and expertise in quantum communication that will help us develop new quantum networks and foster additional collaborations across academia and industry.”
Before becoming a professor, Jiang was a Sherman Fairchild postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Quantum Information at Caltech. He has been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship. He received his BS from Caltech and his PhD from Harvard.