Quantum Computing Enhanced Sensing - Soonwon Choi (Biard Lecture)

Speaker: Soonwon Choi, Assistant Professor of Physics, MIT
Host: John Preskill, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics; Allen V. C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair, Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, Caltech

Abstract: Quantum information technology is advancing at an astonishing pace. What should we do with it?

In this colloquium, I will argue that one of the most powerful and near-term applications of quantum computers lies in quantum sensing. We will show how a digital quantum computer can be used to improve a foundational sensing task: the detection of weak oscillating fields with unknown amplitude and frequency. This task underlies a wide range of real-world applications, from NMR and atomic clocks to gravitational-wave detection and dark-matter searches. By integrating quantum computation with sensing, we develop quantum computing–enhanced sensing protocols that achieve the ultimate performance bound—the Grover–Heisenberg limit. The central idea is to digitize a continuous, analog signal into a discrete quantum operation that can be coherently processed within a quantum algorithm, enabling nonlinear signal processing beyond what is possible with conventional strategies. We will discuss what makes this approach qualitatively distinct from traditional entanglement-enhanced quantum sensing, and propose proof-of-principle implementations based on solid-state spins. Together, these results establish quantum computation as a new and practical resource for pushing the fundamental limits of sensing.

Date recorded: January 15, 2026

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Caltech PMA Website: http://pma.caltech.edu/​​​​
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