12:00pm – 12:20pm: Cunlu Zhou 

AI-Driven Quantum Algorithm Design: Towards Optimal Measurement Protocols via GFlowNets

The interplay between AI and quantum computing has emerged as one of the most dynamic frontiers in modern computational science. On one hand, a variety of quantum algorithms have been proposed to accelerate key machine learning tasks. On the other, AI-enhanced quantum computing has shown remarkable potential for addressing the unique challenges of near-term noisy devices as well as emerging fault-tolerant architectures. In this talk, I will present an AI-driven approach to one of the core tasks in quantum algorithm development: designing efficient measurement circuits, especially under realistic constraints such as limited shots, circuit depth, and hardware connectivity. I will demonstrate how Generative Flow Networks (GFlowNets) can be used to automate measurement-protocol design and to discover near-optimal strategies. 

12:20pm – 12:40pm: Stefania Sciara

Photonic entanglement as a physical resource for quantum communication networks 

Photonic entanglement is a fundamental resource for a variety of quantum technologies. Entanglement is at the basis of several quantum communication protocols, such as quantum state teleportation, entanglement swapping, and quantum repeaters. Notably, in the case of quantum key distribution – where single photons can also be used for prepare-and-measure schemes, the use of entangled photon states enables device-independent protocols where users do not need to trust either the photon source or the measurement device to produce secure secret keys. However, the enhanced security of entanglement-based QKD over prepare-and-measure QKD comes at the price of low secret key rates and higher sensitivity to losses, especially in fiber optics infrastructures. This talk presents a recent work on a proof-of-concept QKD experiment implemented with time-bin entangled photonic qudits, where the use of high-dimensional quantum systems leads to enhanced secret key rates, loss resilience, and security with respect to entangled qubits. The talk will then present a new research perspective where more complex entangled states such as GHZ and cluster states are used as resources for applications far beyond QKD, notably, the quantum internet. An idea is to use these states as a framework to distribute entanglement remotely between multiple quantum memories by exploiting the physical properties of complex entanglement.