Located in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Dr. Sarah Plosker’s Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)-funded laboratory offers her research group state-of-the-art computers and mathematical software, as well as a collaborative work environment, to work on research problems in the area of quantum information theory. Specifically, her team’s research on quantum state transfer concerns the task of transferring a quantum state between locations within a quantum computer. The computers in the lab are “classical” high-powered computers, but the research itself involves the mathematics behind the physical tasks necessary for quantum computers to operate to their full capacity. The work done in the lab is both of physical importance and of mathematical interest. Dr. Plosker’s group typically combines techniques from spectral graph theory, combinatorial matrix theory, and matrix analysis, among other areas.

The laboratory includes a collaborative workstation, high-powered computers, Mathematica and Matlab software, and 64 square feet of white board space for Dr. Plosker and her research team to “crunch the numbers”. The lab opened in 2017 and receives regular operating upgrades. Following Covid-19, with much work being done remotely, a second CFI grant in 2023 provides high-powered laptops, complete with mathematical software, to Dr. Plosker’s trainees.