Santa Fe Institute Collaboration Platform

Thermodynamics of Computation

Karpur Shukla

From Thermodynamics of Computation

Biography: I'm a research fellow at the Centre for Mathematical Modelling at Flame University. My interests lie at the intersection of conformal field theory, geometric phenomena in quantum systems, quantum thermodynamics, and condensed matter theory. In particular, I'm deeply interested in the properties of conformal field theories (CFTs) out of equilibrium, and the ways by which nonequilibrium CFT phenomena manifest in condensed matter models. I'm also interested in the geometric properties of Lindbladians in open quantum systems and their applications to condensed matter systems, particularly CFTs with nondegenerate steady state spaces. Finally, I'm interested in the consequences that renormalisation group transformations have for resource theories.

At present, my current work focuses on the consequences conformal invariance can have for resource theories, as well as the lessons resource theories can have for conformally invariant systems. Recent results by Bernamonti et al. for holographic second laws and Guarnieri et al. for relationships between stochastic quantum work techniques and resource theories have substantial implications for physical models of CFTs. My current focus is on applying the relationship between the quantum work techniques and resource theories to setups exhibiting conformal invariance, in particular the SYK model and the entanglement wedge reconstruction.

These results have direct applications to the thermodynamics of computation. Topological quantum computing is a framework for quantum computing that relies on encoding qubits in anyons, which are quasiparticle excitations that arise in certain conformal field theories. More broadly, the reversible computing paradigm relies on preserving and unwinding correlations, which has a natural language in terms of resource theories. I'm working alongside Michael P. Frank to develop physical models which can support reversible computing, with information flow and specifically operations on correlations expressed in terms of resource theories.

Before my current appointment, I received my M.Sc. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2016, and my B.Sc. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014. There, I worked under Di Xiao on optoelectronic phenomena on the surfaces of topological insulators, in particular examining properties of the photogalvanic effect on the surfaces of topological insulators at zero and finite temperature.

Field(s) of Research: General Non-equilibrium Statistical Physics, Logically Reversible Computing, Quantum Thermodynamics and Information Processing

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