Sep. 2 (Mon) 10:30-12:00, 13:30-15:00, 15:30-17:00
Lecture 1: What is quantum annealing and quantum computation?
Lecture 2: Quatum Ising models as flux-qubit degree of freedom
Lecture 3: Basic usage of quantum annealer

Sep. 3 (Tue) 10:30-12:00, 13:30-15:00, 15:30-17:00
Lecture 4: Optimization problems and computational complexity
Lecture 5: Real-world applications
Lecture 6: Some other topics

Room:
435-437 (main research building): Sep.2 (Mon) am
424-426 (main research building): Sep.2 (Mon) pm & Sep.3 (Tue) am+pm

Abstract:
Quantum annealing is a quantum-computational scheme which tackles computationally hard optimization problems. Its quantum-mechanically implemented machine, called quantum annealer, is commercially manufactured by D-Wave Systems, Inc., and is currently available with more than 2000 quantum bits. In this two-day lecture, I would like to discuss fundamental aspects of quantum annealing (1st day) and its real-world applications (2nd day). In particular, I try to overview the current status of the machine and several problems which we should theoretically overcome. In the first day, I will start with discussing what is quantum annealing and then review how quantum Ising model is implemented with flux-qubit degree of freedom. Later on, I will discuss the basic usage of the quantum annealer as a preparation for applications. In the second day, I will first summarize several classes of optimization problems and their computational complexity, and then discuss examples of real-world applications of quantum annealing. Finally, if I have enough time, I would like to discuss other related topic on quantum annealing.

Topological phases of matter are hot topics in recent physics and related to a wide range of mathematical fields. I will talk about their aspects related to operator algebras. Our emphasis will be on theory of tensor categories which describe interactions of anyons. This theory plays an important role in topological quantum computations.
In theory of operator algebras, Jones initiated theory of subfactors and discovered the Jones polynomial, a new topological invariant for knots as an application. We apply this theory to mathematical studies of anyons.