Andrew Childs

amchilds's picture
Professor and Co-Director
amchilds@umd.edu
3359 Atlantic Building
(301) 405-2329
Website

Andrew Childs, co-director of QuICS, is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS). He is also the director of the NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulation.

Childs's research interests are in the theory of quantum information processing, especially quantum algorithms. He has explored the computational power of quantum walk, providing an example of exponential speedup, demonstrating computational universality, and constructing algorithms for problems including search and formula evaluation. Childs has also developed fast quantum algorithms for simulating Hamiltonian dynamics. His other areas of interest include quantum query complexity and quantum algorithms for algebraic problems.

Before coming to UMD, Childs was a DuBridge Postdoctoral Scholar at Caltech from 2004-2007 and a faculty member in Combinatorics & Optimization and the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo from 2007-2014. Childs received his doctorate in physics from MIT in 2004.

Courses

Introduction to Quantum Information Processing (CMSC657, Fall 2023)
Introduction to Quantum Information Processing (CMSC657, Fall 2022)
Quantum algorithms (CMSC858Q, Spring 2021)
Introduction to quantum computing (CMSC457/PHYS457, Spring 2019)
Introduction to quantum information processing (CMSC858K, Fall 2017)

Publications

2017

A. M. Childs, Kothari, R., and Somma, R. D., “Quantum algorithm for systems of linear equations with exponentially improved dependence on precision”, SIAM Journal on Computing, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 1920-1950, 2017.
D. W. Berry, Childs, A. M., Ostrander, A., and Wang, G., “Quantum algorithm for linear differential equations with exponentially improved dependence on precision”, Communications in Mathematical Physics, vol. 356, no. 3, pp. 1057-1081, 2017.
A. M. Childs and Li, T., “Efficient simulation of sparse Markovian quantum dynamics”, Quantum Information and Computation, vol. 17, pp. 901-947, 2017.

2016

A. M. Childs, van Dam, W., Hung, S. - H., and Shparlinski, I. E., “Optimal quantum algorithm for polynomial interpolation”, 43rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2016), vol. 55, p. 16:1--16:13, 2016.
A. M. Childs and Young, J., “Optimal state discrimination and unstructured search in nonlinear quantum mechanics”, Physical Review A, vol. 93, no. 2, p. 022314, 2016.
A. M. Childs, Gosset, D., and Webb, Z., “Complexity of the XY antiferromagnet at fixed magnetization”, Quantum Information and Computation, vol. 16, no. 1-2, pp. 1-18, 2016.

2015

A. M. Childs, Gosset, D., Nagaj, D., Raha, M., and Webb, Z., “Momentum switches”, Quantum Information and Computation, vol. 15, no. 7-8, pp. 601-621, 2015.
D. W. Berry, Childs, A. M., Cleve, R., Kothari, R., and Somma, R. D., “Simulating Hamiltonian dynamics with a truncated Taylor series”, Physical Review Letters, vol. 114, no. 9, p. 090502, 2015.
D. W. Berry, Childs, A. M., and Kothari, R., “Hamiltonian simulation with nearly optimal dependence on all parameters”, Proceedings of the 56th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, pp. 792-809, 2015.

2014

A. M. Childs and Ge, Y., “Spatial search by continuous-time quantum walks on crystal lattices”, Physical Review A, vol. 89, no. 5, 2014.
D. J. Brod and Childs, A. M., “The computational power of matchgates and the XY interaction on arbitrary graphs”, Quantum Information and Computation, vol. 14, no. 11-12, pp. 901-916, 2014.
A. M. Childs, Gosset, D., and Webb, Z., “The Bose-Hubbard model is QMA-complete”, Proceedings of the 41st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2014), vol. 8572, pp. 308-319, 2014.
D. W. Berry, Childs, A. M., Cleve, R., Kothari, R., and Somma, R. D., “Exponential improvement in precision for simulating sparse Hamiltonians”, Proceedings of the 46th ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC 2014), pp. 283-292, 2014.
A. M. Childs and Ivanyos, G., “Quantum computation of discrete logarithms in semigroups”, Journal of Mathematical Cryptology, vol. 8, no. 4, 2014.
A. M. Childs, Jao, D., and Soukharev, V., “Constructing elliptic curve isogenies in quantum subexponential time”, Journal of Mathematical Cryptology, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1 - 29, 2014.

2013

A. M. Childs, Leung, D., Mancinska, L., and Ozols, M., “A framework for bounding nonlocality of state discrimination”, Communications in Mathematical Physics, vol. 323, no. 3, pp. 1121 - 1153, 2013.
A. M. Childs, Leung, D., Mancinska, L., and Ozols, M., “Interpolatability distinguishes LOCC from separable von Neumann measurements”, Journal of Mathematical Physics, vol. 54, no. 11, p. 112204, 2013.
A. M. Childs, Kothari, R., Ozols, M., and Roetteler, M., “Easy and hard functions for the Boolean hidden shift problem”, Proceedings of TQC 2013, vol. 22, pp. 50-79, 2013.
A. M. Childs, Jeffery, S., Kothari, R., and Magniez, F., “A Time-Efficient Quantum Walk for 3-Distinctness Using Nested Updates”, 2013.
A. M. Childs, Gosset, D., and Webb, Z., “Universal computation by multi-particle quantum walk”, Science, vol. 339, no. 6121, pp. 791 - 794, 2013.