Advancing the frontiers of quantum science and engineering

Abstract: This introductory talk visits the ultraviolet catastrophe, atomic bombs, atomic clocks, transistors, superconductivity, quantum entanglement and more. Find out how quantum physics has given us modern technologies and what future applications of quantum technologies could look like. There will be time left at the end of the talk for a Q&A session. Come with your burning questions!https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/whats-on/event-detail?event-id=174165952596

Abstract: In this talk, I will introduce the multi-armed bandit problem, a fundamental challenge in reinforcement learning and decision-making. It captures the trade-off between exploration—gathering information about an unknown environment—and exploitation—using what has already been learned to maximize rewards. I will then discuss a specific instance: the multi-armed quantum bandit problem, where we have sequential oracle access to an unknown quantum state. In each round, we choose an observable from a given set of actions to maximize its expectation value on the state—our notion of reward. I will outline strategies based on the principle of Optimism in the Face of Uncertainty (OFU) and adaptive confidence regions, which guide decision-making under uncertainty. This framework has practical applications, such as optimizing energy transfer in quantum batteries. Specifically, when we have sequential access to a finite number of copies of an unknown pure qubit state, the goal is to design measurement strategies that both maximize energy extraction and improve our knowledge of the state, enabling more efficient charging in future rounds.

Abstract:QCamp is a one-week summer school for curious and inquisitive minds who wish to explore and understand the physical laws that govern the world's smallest scales: quantum physics. The scope of QCamp is to provide vivid demonstrations of these laws, offer career advice, as well as to help students build a technical foundation for independent exploration of this world. QCamp is organised by the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore.
 

The one-day Flash QCamp for curious and inquisitive minds to get a taster in quantum technologies.