Postdoctoral position in Montpellier, France: Quantum algorithms for Kohn-Sham Density Functional Theory (two years)

Context: Solving the electronic structure problem in quantum chemistry has been identified
as the "killer application" as it relies on the resolution of the Schrödinger equation,
which exact solution on classical computer scales exponentially with the system size,
similarly to the space spanned by the qubits of the quantum computer. Nevertheless, expected
promises of quantum computing applications to quantum chemistry might be strongly reduced
for some technological generations due to deep circuit depth and quantum noise. As an
alternative, the resolution of Kohn-Sham equations on quantum computers instead of the
Schrödinger equation is here proposed to bypass the aforementioned limitations. By mapping
the KS non-interacting system onto an exponentially smaller interacting one, only log(N)
qubits are required to describe a system with N orbitals at the DFT level of approximation,
thus unlocking the treatment of larger systems [1]. In this project, we aim to achieve
quantum advantage for DFT in practice rather than conceptually.

[1]  B. Senjean et al., Toward Density Functional Theory on Quantum Computers ?, SciPost
Phys. 14, 055 (2023)
Postdoctoral proposal:
- Design an optimal implementation of quantum DFT on quantum devices (regarding the
encoding, circuit depth, and number of measurements).
- Implementing Q-DFT on a well-established and open-source DFT code: the massively parallel
and python-user-friendly BigDFT code

This is a two years postdoctoral position, funded by the "agence nationale de recherche"
(ANR) and supervised by Bruno Senjean (CNRS, University of Montpellier) in collaboration
with Thierry Deutsch (CEA, Grenoble) and Luigi Genovese (CEA, Grenoble), developers of the
BigDFT code.

Expected qualifications: Python programming, skills in quantum computing and/or development
of quantum chemistry methods.

The selected candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.
Applicants should send a detailed CV (with reference, i.e., name and email address of the
PhD supervisor), and a cover letter to Bruno Senjean (bruno.senjean@umontpellier.fr).

Applicants will be notified by email if their application has been selected for an online
interview. The interview will consist of a scientific presentation given by the applicant
(about her/his PhD project) followed by a question session and a discussion about the
postdoctoral project. Applicants are expected to understand the scientific motivations of
the project and should have a general idea of the theoretical and practical challenges that
will be addressed during the postdoc.