Opportunities
Membership in IQIM is through affiliation with an IQIM faculty member or research group participating in IQIM. IQIM is not a separate department; all members of IQIM are also members of the Physics, Applied Physics, Computer Science, or other associated department. The path to join IQIM is first to join the institute in the appropriate category:
- Postdoctoral Scholars apply through specific calls (such as IQIM Postdoctoral Scholar, Burke Fellows) or directly with Caltech faculty members.
- Graduate students are admitted by Caltech department: Physics, Applied Physics, Computer Science, etc.
- Undergraduate students affiliate through acceptance to Caltech, and then by association with an IQIM faculty member. Participation can be through undergraduate research fellowships (SURF), or involvement in outreach activities such as Physics Club or InnoWorks.
Several key roles in the IQIM outreach efforts include graduate students; they have led qcraft (the quantum application of the online game MineCraft) demonstrations and collaborative games, and have taken on the role of guest curator for the IQIM twitter account.
Postdoctoral Scholars are often key mentors to graduate students and to undergraduates participating in the SURF program.
Program Details
Undergraduates can affiliate with IQIM through participation in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) Program. An overview of the program, including details about the program and FAQ is available here.
Undergraduate students from Caltech and other universities are invited to apply for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Experimental Quantum Science and Technology (QuantumSURF). Through this program, summer students will have the opportunity to do research for 10 weeks in experimental groups at Caltech working on quantum science and technology. Applications may be submitted through either the SURF or WAVE programs at Caltech. Requirements are the same for the SURF and WAVE programs, though the WAVE program is specifically for women or prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds. Learn more on the QuantumSURF webpage
In addition to the activities and opportunities provided by the SURF and WAVE programs, the QuantumSURF students will benefit from collective meetings, lab tours and interactions with the professors participating in QuantumSURF. QuantumSURF students will also have the opportunity to share their experiences on quantumfrontiers.com, the dedicated blog for Caltech’s Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM).
Examples of participation in the SURF program include this Caltech Media story about Patrick Rall, A Passion for Entanglement and these IQIM publications co-authored with SURF students:
- Brooks, Peter and Preskill, John (2013)Fault-tolerant quantum computation with asymmetric Bacon-Shor codes.Physical Review A, 87 (3). Art. No. 032310. ISSN 1050-2947. View on CaltechAUTHORS
- Alagic, Gorjan and Lo, Catharine 3-manifold diagrams and NP vs #P (2014)http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.6049
- Pollanen, J. and Cooper, K. B. and Brandsen, Sarah et al. (2015)Heterostructure symmetry and the orientation of the quantum Hall nematic phases.
- Physical Review B, 92 (11). Art. No. 115410. ISSN 1098-0121. View on CaltechAUTHORS
- Lee, Jong Yeon and Landon-Cardinal, Olivier (2015) Practical variational tomography for critical one-dimensional systems. Physical Review A, 91 (6). Art. No. 062128. ISSN 1050-2947. View on CaltechAUTHORS
Caltech’s Physics department also lists research opportunities and links to fellowships, including detailed information about the program.
An overview of the Applied Physics & Material Science department with details on courses and timelines is available here.
IQIM Activities for Students and Postdocs
The IQIM Seminar Series is a weekly event providing an overview of the different activities conducted within the IQIM through informal, accessible talks. Graduate students, post-docs and faculty are brought together to keep to date with progress in the different branches of the IQIM, with an opportunity for additional discussions at the provided lunch and coffee. The IQIM Seminar Series is organized by a committee of graduate students and postdocs. Contact any of the members if you have any questions or wish to participate, find a list of the committee members here.
Graduate students assume many key roles in IQIM outreach efforts. They have led qCraft (the quantum application of the online game MineCraft) demonstrations and collaborative games, and have taken on the role of guest curator for the IQIM twitter account.
Postdoctoral Scholars are often key mentors to graduate students and to undergraduates participating in the SURF program.
Courses Related to IQIM Research
A current listing of courses can be found here.
Basic
- Ph 125 abc. Quantum Mechanics, Instructors: Chen, Cheung
- Ph 127 abc. Statistical Physics, Instructors: Alicea, Refael
Intermediate and Advanced:
- Ph 135a Condensed Matter, Instructor: Motrunich
- Ph 135b Quantum Optics, Instructors: Schwab, Kimble
- Ph/CS 219 a. Quantum Computation, Instructor: Kitaev
- Ph/APh 223 abc. Advanced Condensed-Matter Physics, Instructors: Alicea, Motrunich
- APh 114 abc. Solid-State Physics, Instructors: Atwater, Schwab
- APh 190 abc. Quantum Electronics, Instructors: Vahala, Painter
- APh 150 abc. Introduction to Quantum Devices, Instructor: Painter
Related topics:
- EE/APh 131. Light Interaction with Atomic Systems – Lasers, Instructor: Atwater
- EE/APh 180. Nanotechnology, Instructor: Scherer
- APh/MS 105 abc. States of Matter, Instructors: Johnson, Fultz
Contact Information
Marcia Brown
IQIM Program Administrator
150 West Bridge Laboratory, MC 103-33
Phone: (626) 395-4013
Email: marciab@caltech.edu