Mathematical Physics Research Group

David W. Lyons, Mathematics
Cristina Mullican, Mathematics
Scott N. Walck, Physics
Lebanon Valley College

Functional Programming. The application of powerful conceptual tools from computer science brings insight and adventure to physics pedagogy and research. Dr. Walck and students use functional programming languages for novel applications in computational physics.

Quantum Information Science. The prospect of harnessing quantum mechanical systems to process information promises spectacular applications. These include encrypted communication with fundamentally new levels of security, computing machines that will outperform existing supercomputers, and improved measurement devices that will probe new physical realms. The `quantum advantage' at the heart of these revolutionary technologies arises from exploiting entanglement and other non-local properties that are easy to define, but difficult to analyze. Our research group has achieved a body of results that analyze local symmetry (that is, operations on individual particles of a composite physical system that leave its quantum state unchanged) to quantify and classify entanglement in a way that identifies and characterizes important classes of states. Ongoing work studies the interplay of local symmetry with other types of symmetry and applications.

• Apply for a Summer Research Position
• Publications and Presentations
• Grants
• People: current and past group members
• Background Notes for Undergraduate Researchers
• Software for Stabilizer Calculations