In this episode of ML4Q&A, Chris and Mira are joined by ML4Q Professor Mario Berta, who shares his unique journey from ETH Zürich via Imperial College London and Amazon Web Services to RWTH Aachen University. They discuss his work on quantum algorithms, benchmarking, and bridging the gap between theory and industry, as well as insights into starting a research group and teaching theoretical physics. Tune in to explore Mario’s fascinating career path and hear about the quantum version of Stein’s Lemma!
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Listen to the full podcast episode with Mario here or using your podcatcher. You can also download the transcript of the episode here.
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:19 Welcome Mario
00:02:39 Getting into quantum mechanics during the diploma thesis
00:05:25 Short hesitation before returning to academia for the PhD
00:08:26 Quantum Information between Physics and Mathematics
00:15:45 On the potentials and limits of quantum information processing
00:17:32 Going to Caltech (IQIM) for a postdoc
00:21:00 Transitioning to work in industry while being at Imperial College
00:23:08 Joining Amazon AWS
00:26:33 Will cloud computing be a viable business?
00:28:28 Possible applications of mathematically driven research
00:35:12 Coming back to academia and joining RWTH
00:37:14 Diving immediately into teaching
00:42:40 Comparing working in industry to academic life as a professor
00:46:10 Getting introduced to quantum cryptography
00:50:08 Thoughts on entanglement
00:53:43 On algorithms and algorithms benchmarking
00:57:33 The Quantum Algorithm Zoo
01:01:17 Thoughts on scalability
01:03:26 Promising quantum linear algebra type of algorithms
01:07:45 On the mathematics of quantum information
01:12:50 The story of revisiting Stein’s lemma
01:18:36 Interested in joining Mario’s group?
While recording, Alex Jahn – who is not only a talented web designer and a great podcast editor but obviously a gifted illustrator – made this drawing of the recording session:
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