Pittsburgh Quantum Institute

Theoretical chemistry is thus a powerful tool that allow to either explain experimental measurements or to predict behaviors that have yet to be observed. Researchers at the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute use and refine these tools and apply them to the study of a variety of phenomena and systems. Methodological development is an important research thrust at PQI; for instance, stochastic approaches such as the diffusion Monte Carlo method and Energy Decomposition Analysis are developed at PQI.

Dynamics simulations are used to model the evolution of the system in time, with applications in biochemistry or biophysics, where transport of ions in biological channels or protein folding and binding can be investigated. Computational drug design is also one of the most representative application of computational chemistry, as thousands of compounds can be easily and quickly screened for compatibility in terms of structure and energetics. Similarly, the vast configuration space of materials structure and properties can be explored through simulations towards the building of functional devices from the bottom up, the design of electrolytes for next generation batteries, the identification of biomaterials for energy storage and separation applications, or the characterization of optimal structures for organic and hybrid solar cells.

PQI researchers study the fundamental chemical forces controlling the composition, atomic structure, and optoelectronic properties of nanoparticles for environmental remediation and catalysis applications. Another research thrust is the use of various analytical methods to investigate the mechanism for enantioselectivity between chiral samples such as thin films and peptides. Similarly, the capabilities of the ion-trap mass spectrometer are used to elucidate the structure, determine the relative stability, and probe the general patterns in chemical reactivity of gas-phase metal ion complexes.

PQI researchers work on various aspects of quantum computing and information. Development in information theory as well as in quantum algorithms is carried out. Qubit platforms, such as superconducting microwave circuits and Majorana Fermions in semiconducting nanowires are designed for quantum computing. Quantum simulation is another approach to quantum computing; the experimental thrust is the design of a 1D solid state quantum simulation platform that can be controlled on the nanoscale, while a theoretical approach consists of the development of powerful numerical methods that would open the door to faster, more accurate simulations of various novel and exotic quantum systems on a classical computer.

Memory devices

To repeatedly write, store, and retrieve data on memory devices, those must be non-volatile, i.e., they must retain the information even when the power source is turned off. Those devices should also have fast writing speeds and read-access times as well as an ideally infinite number of read-write cycles. In addition, they would be portable, durable, and resistant to a variety of mishaps. PQI researchers are involved in the synthesis of novel electronic materials such as binary and complex oxides, amorphous chalcogenide alloys, and 2D materials. They use state-of-the art techniques such as Molecular Beam Epitaxy, nano-lithography, sputtering, or Pulsed Laser Deposition to fabricate devices for data storage applications.

Sensors

With the miniaturization of all electronic devices and the advances in nano-technology, sensors are becoming increasingly smaller and efficient. On the nanoscale, sensors can be designed to make use of the emerging electrical, mechanical, chemical, catalytic, and optical properties that arise from their quantum mechanical behavior. PQI researchers design new specialty optical fibers and develop new distributed fiber sensing schemes based on novel piezoelectric materials, whose shape is modified in response to an electric field, for applications as sensors for energy, safety, and structural health monitoring.

Solar cells

Solar cells are devices that convert the energy from sunlight to electrical current; they are therefore also called photovoltaic cells. They hold great promise as a source of renewable and clean energy and would help address the growing energy demands worldwide. PQI researchers design and fabricate solar cells consisting of various materials that exhibit exceptional transport properties that arise from ingenious novel structures. Computational methodologies are also developed towards the rational design of novel organic solar cell materials.

Condensed Matter Theory

PQI researchers work towards the prediction or characterization of quantum matter and quantum phenomena. They have expertise in the properties of ultracold atomic systems, the dynamics of quantum many-body systems, topological phenomena arising from spin-orbit coupling and many-body interactions, and the simulation of quantum systems.

Computational Physics

Statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and computer simulations are also used to investigate the structure, stability and properties of novel materials, such as high-entropy alloys, liquid metals, and quasicrystals. Methodological developments, for instance in relativistic multiple scattering theory and high performance computing, in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.

Quantum Phenomena

From an experimental perspective, PQI researchers study the quantum behavior of various systems such as superconductivity, fractionalization of charge, and crystallization in van der Waals heterostructures; the collective behavior of nanoparticle arrays in which superparamagnetic-to-ferromagnetic and insulator-to-metal phase transitions are expected to arise; the structural and electronic properties of semiconductor materials and devices via scanning tunneling microscope; and electrically-controlled ferromagnetism at the interface of complex oxides. They also aim at developing a tool box based on nuclear magnetic resonance, quantum optics, quantum information science, chemistry, and nanoscience for the quantum control of condensed matter systems.

Research at the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute has yielded a number of exciting outcomes in the fields of optics and photonics, including flexible lightwave circuits in glass substrates, nonlinear optical topological insulators, and highly symmetrical and low-loss optical waveguides in flexible glass substrates that are thermally stable at high temperatures.

Spectroscopic techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy, 2-dimensional-infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, 2-photon photoemission spectroscopy are used to probe various systems ranging from ionic liquids to polymers to metal surfaces.

PQI counts among its numbers faculty members whose area of expertise are in history and philosophy of physics with emphases on relativity, quantum theory, statistical physics, chaos theory, and thermodynamical irreversibility. The crucial and decisive role of mathematics in the formation and application of physical theories is also investigated. In addition, our researchers are also interested in the broader topics of the philosophy of science, such as issues of causality, time, non-locality, and ontology, approaches to confirmation theory, inconsistency in theories, and thought experiments, with a special interest in Einstein's body of work on special and general relativity.

Quantum mechanics is intrinsically non-intuitive, with concepts that greatly differ from the principles of the classical world we navigate in. Those concepts may be hard to grasp and even harder to explain. PQI member Chandralekha Singh investigates pedagogical approaches for the teaching of quantum mechanics at an undergraduate and at an advance level. Moreover, close ties with local Taylor Allderdice High School offer opportunities to PQI faculty to promote quantum sciences and engineering to the next generation, and to the high school students to sneak a peek during outreach events into the daily lives of a quantum scientist.

The executive board,[19] led by director Dr. Jeremy Levy, includes a dozen faculty from all three institutions, as well as Dr. Andrew Daley, who kept his honorary cofounder seat despite moving his lab to the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, in the fall of 2013.

The PQI logo [20] was designed using the widely used Dirac notation, which makes it instantaneously recognizable by the quantum community.