MS Quantum Information Science Program Report

Thomas W. Burkle
August 7, 2023

Abstract
This report is a collection of achievements and deliverable work that I have been involved in
throughout my time in the MS QIS graduate degree program. I would like this to serve as an
opportunity to discuss the required and relevant coursework throughout the program, my research
experiences and interests, and my personal remarks on how the program can grow and continue
to be successful. I have broken up the report into multiple sections. Section 1 provides a brief
introduction on myself and quantum computing. Section 2 will talk briefly about the MS QIS
program coursework. Section 3 highlights my experience carrying out independent research in
Richerme Lab, and what I think makes a productive researcher. Section 4 explains my work over
the summer with USRA in simulating the spread of wildfire. Then lastly, Section 5 serves to
provide some of my final thoughts and conclusions on the program altogether.

1 Introduction
Throughout my scientific career, I have been dedicated towards discovering my strengths within Physics
and finding ways that I could make a strong contribution to the scientific community altogether. I
have continuously imagined myself working with truly cutting-edge technology and looking for effective
ways to apply this in the real world. Quantum information technology is undoubtedly going to grow,
and significantly change the way we do computations and carry out simulations of various natural
phenomenon. Having exposure to the very vast and mysterious world of quantum mechanics, I have
been dedicated towards maximizing my quantum potential. Richard Feynman was one of the first
to propose of a new way to simulate quantum systems using a computational device that is itself
probabilistic. Classical computers use bits that operate within binary [0,1]. Therefore the ability to
simulate a quantum system that obeys a wave-function such as Equation 1 scales exponentially with
the number of particles in the system. Simulating a system of 300 two-level quantum particles would
require 2300 classical bits, which is larger than the number of atoms in the known universe! [D’O22]
X
|ψ⟩ = asi ...sn |si ...sn ⟩ (1)
Si =↑,↓

Accessing this vast computational power for real world applications has yet to be fully realized.
Many companies worldwide are investing in how a new paradigm in computation may largely impact
their industry. As the field continues to evolve, putting this technology in the hands of researchers and
innovators will aid the exploration, discovery, and ultimately novel applications and benefits.

2 Coursework
2.1 Quantum Computation and Information
The MS QIS program is an accelerated masters program that consists of a required 30 credit hours
through relevant coursework and research. The one required course, Quantum Computation and
Information, is a critical component to the program. The course provides a fundamental background to
the field as well as a more in depth look at some of the quantum algorithms that are used and proven to
show computational superiority against the worlds biggest and best super-computers. Technical aspects
of the course in my opinion would be far more difficult to truly understand without a background in
Physics or Mathematics. With that being said, I wouldn’t consider the class un-passable or a waste

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by any means. A complete intellectual understanding of some of the more difficult contents within the
course come with considerable amounts of time and practice.

2.2 Electives
The QIS program consists of three high level tracks:
• Quantum Computation and Simulation
• Quantum Materials and Sensing
• Quantum Applications and Operations Research

These tracks in my eyes reflect some of the main emerging areas of interest in both developing
technologies and industry applicability. What you choose to take within these tracks following quantum
computation and information is entirely up to you and what pertains to your specific research interests.
For me, I am largely interested in the simulation of quantum chemical dynamics. I am also interested
in working primarily in an experimental setting. This includes and is not limited too simulation
experiments of various natural phenomenon ranging from the nano to macro scales. The courses I
found relevant throughout the QIS program to my research interests include Applied Machine Learning,
Introduction to Nano-Engineering, and Modern Optics. All other credit hours were fulfilled through
independent research in Richerme Lab.

3 Richerme Lab
3.1 Lab Overview
Independent research opportunities are widely available throughout the MS QIS degree program.
Who you choose to work with significantly depends on your research interests, and how you would
like to apply these new skills and abilities in the industry. I have always been interested in working
experimentally, either within AMO or Nuclear physics. Since my undergraduate research in climate
modelling, I have also gained significant interest in the simulation of various physical phenomenon.
Therefore Richerme Lab became an obvious leading contender for pursuing independent research.
Richerme Lab strives to build and develop a well-controlled quantum simulator to understand the
behavior of complex quantum spin systems. To do so, trapped ions are used as qubits that can then be
manipulated to interact with each other in many interesting ways. These ideas were only experimentally
realized only a few years ago, since then trapped ions have become a leading platform for advanced
quantum simulation experiments due to their high fidelity state preparation, long coherence times, and
precise quantum measurements.

3.2 Quantum Chemistry

How might the state dynamics of a Hamiltonian H with a Toeplitz form be efficiently simulated with
trapped ions? In part we are answering this question because we know that with efficiently simulated
state dynamics we can reconstruct the transition energies between eigenstates in quantum chemical
systems. It additionally could be used in a quantum algorithm, such as quantum phase estimation,
that measures exact eigenvalues of H. It would also be useful in real-space dynamics simulations
[CLL+ 22] or even something akin to a finite difference algorithm. We are also interested in answering
this question because it shows there are some problems where global MS gates are more desirable than
pair-wise MS gates. The main advantage being that global MS gates can generate multi-qubit gates
with fewer laser drives and fewer calibrations likely leading to higher fidelity and a less engineering
intensive experimental setup.
Our strategy is as follows: decompose the kinetic energy contribution K (which has a Toeplitz
matrix form) into generalized Pauli gates (could be anything from single to n-body Pauli operations);
decompose the potential energy V (diagonal of Hamiltonian) into RZZ (θ) and RZ (θ) gates; implement
gates in a Trotterized sequence of layered single qubit gates and multi-qubit gates; extract transition
frequencies from the state dynamic frequencies. For now, we are focusing strictly on the kinetic energy
K part of the Hamiltonian. We assume the available experiment can drive global MS interactions,

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individually addressable RZ (θ) gates, and globally driven single qubit rotations RX (θ) and RY (θ).
There is no one way to drive a multi-qubit gate. However, the proposal discussed in Ref. [MHZ+ 11]
seems quite attractive. It is contingent upon the standard global MS interaction and individually
addressed RZ (θ) gates which, we will argue, are better performing than constructing multi-qubit gates
from pairwise MS interactions. We start by assuming that an MS gate is to be a sum of all pairwise
interactions across all ions. Between two ions the gate evolution follows Equation 2, where θ sets the
strength of interaction and ϕ the rotation axis.
θ
UMS (θ, ϕ) = exp{−i (cos(ϕ)X + sin(ϕ)Y )2 } (2)
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Figure A.1 from Ref. [MHZ+ 11] illustrates how the pair-wise terms can be used to generate a multi-
qubit gate by sandwiching an Rz(θ) gate between two MS gates. This extends to any number of qubits.
Each Pauli operator in the N-weight Pauli string can switched for a different one by wrapping the circuit
with the appropriate single-qubit rotations. A paper with thorough results from this simulation and
its protocols are forthcoming in an academic paper.

RY (π/2) RZ (θ) RY (−π/2)

e −iθXXX = UMS (π/2, 0) UMS (−π/2, 0)

Figure 1: Example 3-qubit gate XXX from global MS drives and individually addressable single-qubit
gates.

3.3 Tabletop
Being an experimentalest at times will test your ability to remain patient, determined, and encouraged.
There are more often times than not always something that needs fixed or diagnosed. Due to this it is
common to loose track of the main objective at hand, or to feel like you are making any progress at all.
All of these things are characteristics of being a good scientist, and embracing your mistakes typically
help you learn, and better off in the future. Anything that happens to the physical experiment or
”tabletop” are always well documented and communicated. Protocols are continuously being updated
and created to make processes for future members of the lab much smoother.
As I continued to fall in love with the research in Richerme Lab I wanted to get more and more
involved as I could. I learned about the electrical systems used for trapping, laser light preparation,
vacuum chamber assembly, computer software for experimental control, etc. At one point in time
throughout the year we were measuring a large amount of RF electrical noise running through all
of the cables and into the trap, influencing our ions. We needed to figure out a way to reduce this
electrical noise at various different parts of the trap. Almost like plugging a bucket with unlimited
water and a bunch of holes one by one until it is finally done leaking. One of these holes we determined
to be the trap oven leads. These leads are connected directly to the ”oven” which is responsible for
loading the trap with neutral Ytterbium before they are blasted with a laser and ionized. These oven
leads carry as much as 5 Amps of current into the trap when operating and proved to be a major
culprit for our electrical noise issues. With this I was tasked into researching a developing a way we
could alleviate some of this noise around the oven leads. Finally I came up with a design that consisted
of two copper elbows that are to be connected to each-other, and within this copper sleeve there will
be 2 ceramic 68nF capacitors soldered from the wires connected to the oven leads to the grounded
exterior copper shield. These capacitors will behave as a deep reservoir for charge to collect, and the
copper shield should reduce any electrical noise around the wires in free space. After multiple failed
attempts soldering the capacitors to the side of the copper sleeve with a blow torch, I was forced to
try a different method. I was able to drill small holes into the sides of the copper sleeves, allowing a
mechanical connection between the capacitors and the copper (Copper has to get incredibly hot for
normal solder to melt onto it). Once the capacitors were successfully installed, we were able to 3D
print an heat tolerant end-cap that connects the oven cable into the two protected wire leads into the
trap [See Figure 2].

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Figure 2: Copper electromagnetic shield connected to trap vacuum chamber. Current carrying wire
is fed through the blue 3D printed cap and into the copper shielding. Inside the shielding there are 2
ceramic 68nF capacitors. The wiring is then connected by copper sleeves with an accessible window
for removal of shielding device if necessary.

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3.4 Lab Future
Over the course the past year I have developed a strong passion for AMO physics and trapped atom
quantum simulation. I personally am very optimistic about what this kind of technology could do in
terms of scientific utility when scaled to much larger numbers of atoms (or qubits). I have fallen in love
with working experimentally, and have undoubtedly reignited my passion for fundamental physics. In
order to achieve some of my many scientific career aspirations, one year is simply not enough. There is
more to learn, and more to master. I am dedicated towards focusing my entire scientific career towards
this kind of research, therefore starting in the Fall of 2023 I will begin earning my PhD in Physics here
at Indiana University working with the Richerme group.

4 University Space Research Association

4.1 Project Overview
Many industry members, government agencies, and non-profit organizations are pooling together re-
sources in order to solve real world problems using the applicability of developing quantum technologies.
One of the many ares in which quantum computation and information science could provide a com-
putational advantage is in the forecasting of destructive natural phenomenon. Over the course of this
summer, I have teamed up with University Space Research Association (USRA) as a Feynman Quan-
tum Academy Intern researching the spread of wildfire using a quantum-compatible machine learning
approach. USRA is a non-profit organization funded by many government agencies such as NASA,
DoD, and DoE in order to pair students with research scientists actively pursuing projects in emerging
technologies for real world applications. Accurate wildfire forecasting is crucial in preventing and miti-
gating the impact of wildfires on our communities and ecosystems. With the increase in both frequency
and intensity of wildfires in recent years, accurate forecasting is more important than ever. Wildfires
cause widespread destruction to forests, homes, and communities, and can result in the loss of human
lives and habitat for wildlife. Forecasting models use various factors, such as weather conditions, fuel
moisture, and topography, to predict the likelihood and severity of wildfires. The efficiency of com-
municating this information is crucial for fire management teams to prepare and allocate resources
effectively to minimize the impact of wildfires. Accurate forecasting also aids in evacuation planning,
providing early warnings to affected communities, and ensuring the safety of residents and emergency
personnel. Wildfire forecasting is a critical component in reducing the risks associated with wildfires
and protecting both human and ecological systems. This project aims to forecast and simulate the
spread of wildfire activities using satellite data and a quantum-compatible machine learning model.
The proposed model will provide a probabilistic hint towards the spread of the next hot spot in the
vicinity of an active wildfire.

4.2 Methodology
Targeted goals for forecasting model development. These are high level achievements that break down
the project in terms of three major phases.

• Download satellite data sets that serve and input training and target data for machine learning.
• Pair data sets and optimize for peak model performance.

• Develop Wildfire Data-Index

• Execute machine learning model that provides a probabilistic hint for the spread of wildfire.
• Research a quantum-compatible version of this approach to explore quantum advantage in an
applicable real world problem.

Creating the wildfire data set consists of downloading relevant satellite data over a specific domain
(Northern California, as this geographical region experiences both frequent and intense wildfire ac-
tivity). Later on, these data sets will are combined and prepared to be optimized for training in our
classical machine learning model. Tentative data-sets used for this project are listed below:

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 • GOES- 16/17 for near-real-time data retrieval and processing.
• DEM data for United States topographical data
• VIIRS wildfire data from NOAA-20 satellite.
• ERA5 atmospheric wind and weather data

4.3 Important Tools

This project is carried out primarily through the use of python programming. Throughout the project
progression I have gained a thorough understanding of many python packages used for data analysis
and data preparation for machine learning. Furthermore, an even greater tool provided through
USRA is the use of Pacific Research Platform (PRP) super-computing cluster. These super-computing
resources are essential in being able to run code efficiently and in a timely manner. Access to PRP was
done through Kubernetes. Kubernetes is an open-source container system for software development
and code management. Utilizing kubernetes came with a semi steep learning curve for someone not
coming directly from computer science or informatics. However, once you understand the system and
gain experience using it, it became a wildly efficient and useful tool for managing large data-sets and
running code remotely to and from PRP super-computing resources.

4.4 Wildfire Data Index

Many people that actively research and utilize machine learning understand that a significant portion
of work done in ML is in data preparation and optimization. It is fundamental to how we learn in-
formation from these types of simulations. The better and more optimized your training data is, the
better your model will be able the learn from that data, and therefore give you a more accurate de-
scription of the phenomenon you are trying to simulate. With this, a significant portion of this project
was in the development of this well optimized Wildfire Data Index. This index will be a complete set of
various satellite remote sensing data sets. Python scripts have been written for downloading data-sets
from VIIRS, GOES-16/17, DEM, and ERA5 for any and every time range that there is information
available. Spatiotemporal data from all four remote sensing satellites were downloaded over the north-
ern California domain over the course of 2018. PRP provides the computational resources for storing
adequately large data-sets over long periods of time. Test pods were created and destroyed in Kuber-
netes for ensuring access to PRP computational resources within our groups designated name-space.
For the VIIRS data-set, python scripts have been written that manipulate and prepare this data to be
our target variable throughout simulation. In order for the VIIRS data to be correctly prepared for
learning, a grid map was developed overlapping pixels with detected fire florescence provided by VIIRS.
This grid map will be used as boundary conditions for our model in the future. GOES data is used for
near-real-time data retrieval and processing. This is a large data-set stored as netCDF4 files for each
month throughout the year of 2018. DEM data consists of topological data over the surface of our
domain. This information is stored as a picture within PRP. Lastly, ERA5 provides us with weather
and wind data. These files are also stored as netCDF4 files within PRP. These resources combined
provide enough information for machine learning to accurately simulate the spread of wildfire. Ideally
this data index will be utilized for more simulation experiments than what is within the scope of this
project.

4.5 Machine Learning Model

Machine learning provides an opportunity to extract useful information from a large collection of
remote sensing data-sets. Wildfire models are typically designed to be either stochastic or determin-
istic. Deterministic models assume that the simulation is fully resolved, and the simulations can be
conducted with negligible errors. However, stochastic models acknowledge the presence of unresolved
sub-processes and seek to incorporate them in the modeling framework. Development of a classical
machine learning model for probabilistic forecasting the spread of wildfire will be conducted through
the use of a Variational Auto-Encoder (VAE) framework [KVD+ 18]. This will be a stochastic, unsuper-
vised learning model. VAE’s are an artificial neural network architecture and works as a probabilistic
graphical model. Neural network components are typically referred to as the encoder and decoder

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 Figure 3: Visual representation of Variational Auto-Encoder operational workflow.

mechanisms in most VAE architectures [See Figure 3]. The first neural network maps input vari-
ables to a latent space, and the second neural network has the opposite function mapping the latent
space back to input space to generate resulting data points [AAML+ 23]. Classical model results are
forthcoming once training data is adequately prepared for peak model performance.

4.6 Quantum Compatible Machine Learning Model

The quantum-compatible implementation of the learning model is in the very early stages of develop-
ment. Some theoretical research is underway for how this can be executed in our current modeling
framework. From [AAR+ 18], a quantum variational auto-encoder is introduced by using a quantum
boltzman machine (QBM) throughout the latent generative process. Placing a QBM in the latent
space of a VAE model leverages the full potential of current and next-generation quantum computers
designed to provide a computational advantage in real-world problems. The use of quantum compu-
tation in machine learning has been theorized for a number of different modeling schemes. For most
methods, the model stays classical and quantum mechanics is used for strictly facilitating the training
data. Looking farther into the future, another goal of this project is the ability to run this quantum
machine learning model on real quantum hardware provided by Rigetti.

5 Conclusions
5.1 Achievements
Over the past year, my overall knowledge and expectation of QIS have changed dramatically. It has
turned from something I simply found interesting into something I am deeply passionate towards con-
tributing too. I have learned through my time in Richerme Lab and through the program coursework
far more about fundamental physics than I did throughout my entire time as an undergraduate physics
student. The program has also provided numerous opportunities to work hands on experimentally with
quantum hardware. Beyond that, I have become far more familiar with coding and computer science
for experimental studies. Learning how to utilize computation in science is fundamental to being an
efficient scientist, and to the graduate program. It is the basis in which we are trying to build the new,
vastly more powerful, vastly more complicated, ”Quantum” computational resources. Over the course
of this one year I am co-authoring two research papers. First, the quantum chemical simulation that
was theoretically conceptualized in Richerme Lab. Then secondly, a paper for a wildfire data index for
machine learning simulations and experiments from my time over the summer working with USRA.

5.2 Personal Remarks

As I mentioned before, throughout my undergraduate degree I have been on the hunt to see where
my strengths in Physics are, and where in Physics I could see myself making the greatest impact. I
believe that this program has successfully answered both of those questions. The program to me is

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most definitely a research based MS program, and what you choose to research and how much you
work at it will determine where you stand compared to others search for jobs in the industry. The
QIS program is capable of opening many doors and giving you opportunities in almost every area
of QIS research. It is my understanding that another one of the main objectives of the program is
to allow students with a wide variety of backgrounds to learn professional skills in QIS in order to
prepare a sufficient quantum workforce. I think it is important to acknowledge the complexity of the
content, and depending on what training you may previously have will absolutely have an influence
on your ability to make timely contributions over the course of the short program. It is a given to
me that a background in Physics and Mathematics is of a great advantage. It is not unattainable or
impossible to work in QIS without that sort of background, but I think it should be overwhelmingly
transparent that it will take time and practice to fully grasp some of these concepts. Additionally I
like to believe that anyone is capable of doing anything. It comes with a self driven determination to
be a part of something meaningful and to be a productive scientist. In my eyes accelerated graduate
degree programs such as this behaves physically like a magnet for recruiting passionate and driven
students capable of making extraordinary progress in both Physics and technology.

References
[AAML+ 23] Ata Akbari Asanjan, Milad Memarzadeh, Paul Aaron Lott, Eleanor Rieffel, and Shon
Grabbe. Probabilistic wildfire segmentation using supervised deep generative model from
satellite imagery. Remote Sensing, 15(11):2718, 2023.
[AAR+ 18] Mohammad H Amin, Evgeny Andriyash, Jason Rolfe, Bohdan Kulchytskyy, and Roger
Melko. Quantum boltzmann machine. Physical Review X, 8(2):021050, 2018.
[CLL+ 22] Andrew M Childs, Jiaqi Leng, Tongyang Li, Jin-Peng Liu, and Chenyi Zhang. Quantum
simulation of real-space dynamics. Quantum, 6:860, 2022.
[D’O22] Marissa Danielle D’Onofrio. A Trapped Ion Quantum Simulator for Two-Dimensional
Spin Systems. PhD thesis, Indiana University, 2022.
[KVD+ 18] Amir Khoshaman, Walter Vinci, Brandon Denis, Evgeny Andriyash, Hossein Sadeghi,
and Mohammad H Amin. Quantum variational autoencoder. Quantum Science and
Technology, 4(1):014001, 2018.
[MHZ+ 11] M Müller, Klemens Hammerer, YL Zhou, Christian F Roos, and P Zoller. Simulating
open quantum systems: from many-body interactions to stabilizer pumping. New Journal
of Physics, 13(8):085007, 2011.