Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Fellow of the Institute of Physics
Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
Visiting Scientist
Simons Foundation for the Theory of Computing
University of California, Berkeley
Higher Education
Doctor of Science in Mathematical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 2022
Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Computer Science, University of Oxford, 2010
What I Do
I make quantum applications possible on real-world quantum machines. I’ve developed theories and models that improve our understanding of universal quantum computers. My research includes analyzing the difficulty level of using quantum computers to solve problems related to the structure of molecules, merging complex network theory with quantum information science, and advancing the use of graphical reasoning languages, which are being employed in the field of quantum circuit theory and algorithm engineering. My recent findings underpin a new, data-driven approach to analyzing quantum algorithms. This research has helped shape the research agenda of the field and guided the quantum technology strategies of major technology companies.
Biography
I work at the intersection of quantum applications and the inherent constraints of physical hardware, and my work has contributed significantly to the abstraction of these limitations. This has allowed for the development of physically relevant models that enable universal quantum computation, has revealed constraining aspects of quantum algorithms and broadened the applicability of quantum computation into data-driven areas such as machine learning.
After completing my undergraduate studies at Portland State University, I worked as a Quantum Applications Scientist at D-Wave Systems Inc. in Vancouver, Canada, and as a Fellow at Harvard University in the Aspuru-Guzik Group. I obtained my PhD from the University of Oxford in 2010. Subsequently, I was mentored by John Carlos Baez and supervised by Arthur Ekert as part of a joint Oxford/Singapore postdoctoral program and as a Lecturer at St Peter’s College Oxford before joining the Institute for Scientific Interchange (ISI Foundation) in Torino, Italy, as their Quantum Science Research Group Leader (2012-2017). In 2017, I joined the MIT-founded Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology as a Tenure Track Associate Professor, eventually being promoted to the Head of the Laboratory for Quantum Information Processing and then to tenured Professor. I became the first American-born scientist to successfully defend a higher Doctorate at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. My time in Moscow was cut short due to the war against Ukraine.
In 2018, I was honored with the USERN Medal in Formal Sciences. I have also been chosen as a Foundational Questions Institute investigator, elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. I serve as a consultant, subject matter expert and scientific advisor to several public and private institutions, including The Wellcome Trust. I teach applied and engineering mathematics, quantum information theory, and quantum computation.
Employment
Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Founded and operated with M.I.T.) — Moscow, Russia
Full Professor in Computer Science and in Physics, 2022–2023
Head of Laboratory for Quantum Information Processing, 2019–2023
Tenure Track Associate Professor in Computer Science and in Physics, 2017–2022
Institute for Scientific Interchange (ISI Foundation) — Torino, Italy
Research Leader, Quantum Science Laboratory, 2012–2017
University of Oxford — Oxford, United Kingdom
Research Fellow, University of Oxford/National University of Singapore (joint program), 2011–2012
College Lecturer in Physics, St Peter’s College, Oxford, 2009–2012
Doctoral Thesis Prize Fellow, October 2010–April 2011
Tutor, Mathematical Institute, 2007–2010
Doctoral Student, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Studentship, 2007–2010
Harvard University, Aspuru-Guzik Group — Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Fellow, April–September 2007 and March–October 2008
D-Wave Systems Inc., ‘The Quantum Computing Company’ — Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Applications Scientist, 2005–2007
Research Associate, 2004–2005
Former PhD Advisees
Dr Akshay Vishwanathan
Dr Andrey Kardashin
Dr Alexey Uvarov
Dr Oksana Borzenkova (secondary advisor: Stanislav Straupe, Moscow State University)
Dr Piotr Migdał (primary advisor: Maciej Lewenstein, ICFO)
Dr Jacob Turner (primary advisor: Jason Morton, Pennsylvania State University)
Former MSc Thesis Advisees
Boris Arseniev
Anton Bozhedarov
Alexandr Berezutski
Maxim Beketov
Former Postdoctoral and Research Scientists Mentored
Dr Soumik Adhikary
Dr Ville Bergholm
Dr Mauro Faccin
Dr Tomi Johnson
Prof Mikhail Malovichko
Dr Anastasia Pervishko
Prof Richik Sengupta
Dr Ksenia Samburskaya
Dr Timur Tlyachev
Prof Dmitry Yudin
Dr Igor Zacharov
Prof Zoltán Zimborás
Selected Research Papers
Universal variational quantum computation
J Biamonte
(Letter) Physical Review A 103, L030401 (2021)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.103.L030401 (open access)
Tensor network contractions for #SAT
J Biamonte, J Morton and J Turner
Journal of Statistical Physics 160, 1389 (2015)
DOI: 10.1007/s10955-015-1276-z ArXiv: 1405.7375
Simulation of electronic structure Hamiltonians using quantum computers
J Whitfield, J Biamonte and A Aspuru-Guzik
Molecular Physics 109, 735 (2011)
DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2011.552441 ArXiv: 1001.3855
Realizable Hamiltonians for universal adiabatic quantum computers
J Biamonte and P Love
Physical Review A 78, 012352 (2008)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.78.012352 ArXiv: 0704.1287