Research

The research in the quantum theory group headed by Frank Verstraete is focused on the study of entanglement in many-body quantum systems. In recent years, it has indeed been discovered that the theory of entanglement, originally developed in the context of quantum information theory, has the potential to revolutionize the way many-body wavefunctions can be understood.

On the one hand, this is leading to a very powerful formalism for describing exotic phenomena and phases of matter such as occurring in quantum magnets and high Tc superconductors. On the other hand, the quantum correlations present in those states can be exploited to perform novel information theoretic tasks such as quantum computing and quantum simulation.

Both of those themes play a central role in the research in the group, and it is the interplay between those different aspects that contributes to the excitement in the field.