Chinmay Nirkhe

Hello, I am a PhD candidate in the Theory Group at UC Berkeley and a research intern for IBM Quantum. My research interests are in theoretical computer science centered around quantum information and hardness of approximation. Recently, I've been thinking about the quantum PCP conjecture and achievable tasks for noisy quantum devices.

Education

• University of California, Berkeley
  Ph.D. Computer Science. 2017 -
  Advisor: Umesh Vazirani
• California Institute of Technology
  B.S. Mathematics, B.S. Computer Science. 2013 - 2017
  

CV

Papers and Talks

• The parametrized complexity of quantum verification
  Srinivasan Arunachalam, Sergey Bravyi, Chinmay Nirkhe, and Bryan O'Gorman.
  In submission. 2021.
• Quantum search-to-decision and the state synthesis problem
  Sandy Irani, Anand Natarajan, Chinmay Nirkhe, Sujit Rao, and Henry Yuen.
  In submission. 2021.
  [arXiv:2111.02999]
• Circuit lower bounds for low-energy states of quantum code Hamiltonians
  Anurag Anshu and Chinmay Nirkhe.
  Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) 2022 Berkeley, Calif., USA. (to appear)
  Quantum Information Processing (QIP) 2021 Munich, Germany Online.
  [arXiv:2011.02044] [Recorded Talks/Slides]
  • Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, Quantum Wave in Computing Reunion Workshop, July 2021. (video)
  • Stanford Patrick Hayden's Group Quantum Seminar, July 2021.
  • Caltech Thomas Vidick's group Quantum Seminar, March 2021
  • Quantum Information Processing 2021, February 2021 (slides | video)
  • Quantum Code Design and Architectures Seminar, November 2020 (video)
  • University of Texas, Austin and MIT Joint Quantum Seminar, December 2020 (slides | video)
• Good approximate quantum LDPC codes from spacetime circuit Hamiltonians
  Thom Bohdanowicz, Elizabeth Crosson, Chinmay Nirkhe, and Henry Yuen.
  Symposium on the Theory of Computing (STOC) 2019 Phoenix, Ariz., USA.
  International Conference on Quantum Error Correction (QEC) 2019 London, UK. (Invited Talk)
  Quantum Information Processing (QIP) 2019 Boulder, Colo., USA.
  [arXiv:1811.00277] [Proceedings Version] [Recorded Talks/Slides]
  • Symposium on the Theory of Computing, June 2019 (slides | poster)
  • University of Waterloo IQC Seminar, April 2019 (slides)
  • UC Berkeley Theory Lunch, February 2019
  • Berkeley Quantum Information & Computation Center Seminar, December 2018 (slides)
• On the complexity and verification of random circuit sampling
  Adam Bouland, Bill Fefferman, Chinmay Nirkhe, and Umesh Vazirani.
  Nature Physics 2018.
  Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) 2019 San Diego, Calif., USA.
  Quantum Information Processing (QIP) 2019 Boulder, Colo., USA.
  [arXiv:1803.04402] [Journal Version] [News Article] [Notes] [Recorded Talks/Slides]

  A previous version of this paper appeared under the title: 'Quantum Supremacy and the Complexity of Random Circuit Sampling'.

  • Indian Symposium on Quantum Information and Technology (ISQIT) Pune, India, December 2019 (slides)
  • University of Toronto Computer Science / Quantum Information Seminar, March 2019 (slides | video)
  • Poster at Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS) 2019 San Diego, Calif. (poster)
  • IIT Kanpur Computer Science Seminar, December 2018 (slides)
  • Simons Institute Industry Day Lightning Talks, May 2018
  • UC Berkeley Visit Days, March 2018 (slides)
• Approximate low-weight check codes and circuit lower bounds for noisy ground states
  Chinmay Nirkhe, Umesh Vazirani, and Henry Yuen.
  International Colloquium of Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP) 2018 Prague, Czech Republic.
  Theory of Quantum Computation, Communication, and Cryptography (TQC) 2018 Sydney, Australia.
  [arXiv:1802.07419] [Proceedings Version] [Recorded Talks/Slides]
  • Theory of Quantum Computing, July 2018 (slides)
  • Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics Seminar, May 2018 (slides)
  • Caltech IQIM, February 2018

Research Positions

• IBM PhD Quantum Research Intern
  Yorktown Heights, NY, USA. Online (due to COVID-19 pandemic). May - December 2021.

Teaching Assistant Positions

• UC Berkeley:
  • The Mathematics of Quantum Computation: The 4th Winter School in Computer Science and Engineering, Hebrew University
  • CS 294-6: Quantum Computation
  • CS 170: Efficient Algorithms and Intractable Problems (my course page)
  • UCSD Trends in Theory 2018 on Quantum Computation
• Caltech:
  • CS 21: Decidability and Tractability
  • CS 38: Introduction to Algorithms (lecture notes)
  • CS 156a: Learning Systems
  • CS 139: Advanced Algorithms (various notes)

Contact Information

• nirkhe@cs.berkeley.edu
• Room 615 Soda Hall Berkeley, Calif. 94720
• Pronouns: he/him