Yuan Su

Yuan Su

Senior Applied Scientist

AWS Center for Quantum Computing

Biography

Yuan Su is a Senior Applied Scientist at the AWS Center for Quantum Computing. Previously, he was a researcher at Microsoft, Google, and a postdoc at Caltech. He studies the theoretical side of quantum simulation, aiming to understand and optimize the performance of quantum algorithms for simulating quantum physics.

Su obtained his doctorate degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, advised by Andrew Childs. Contributions from his thesis “Algorithms for Quantum Simulation: Design, Analysis, Implementation, and Application” were recognized by the 2020 Larry S. Davis Doctoral Dissertation Award.

He is a recipient of the 2019 Google PhD Fellowship in quantum computing and the 2022 Reviewer of the Year Award from npj Quantum Information.

Interests
  • Quantum algorithms
  • Quantum simulation
  • Quantum computing
Education

  • PhD in Computer Science, 2020

    University of Maryland

  • MSc in Applied Mathematics, 2015

    Peking University

  • BEng in Computer Science, 2012

    Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
Senior Applied Scientist
Amazon
Oct 2025 – Present Pasadena, California
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers.
 
 
 
 
 
Senior Researcher
Microsoft
Jun 2022 – Oct 2025 Redmond, Washington
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Scientist
Google
Apr 2021 – Jun 2022 Venice, California
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for early fault-tolerant quantum computers.
 
 
 
 
 
Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate
Caltech
Jul 2020 – Apr 2021 Pasadena, California
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry and quantum field theory.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Intern
Google
May 2019 – Aug 2019 Venice, California
Estimated the resource requirements of quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry simulation.
 
 
 
 
 
Research Intern
Microsoft
May 2018 – Aug 2018 Redmond, Washington
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry simulation.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant
University of Maryland
Aug 2016 – Dec 2016 College Park, Maryland
Served as a teaching assistant of Introduction to quantum information processing (CMSC 858K).
 
 
 
 
 
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Maryland
Aug 2015 – May 2020 College Park, Maryland
Designed and analyzed quantum algorithms for simulating quantum systems.
 
 
 
 
 
Teaching Assistant
Peking University
Sep 2013 – Jan 2015 Beijing, China
Served as a teaching assistant of Advanced Linear Algebra (I) and (II).

Recent Talks

Quantum eigenvalue processing (IVADO seminar)
In this talk, I will present quantum algorithms to estimate and transform eigenvalues of high dimensional matrices. Such an eigenvalue …
Feb 6, 2026 1375 Avenue Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, H2V 0B3
Video
Quantum eigenvalue processing (IVADO seminar)
Quantum linear system algorithm with optimal queries to initial state preparation (QIP 2025)
Quantum algorithms for the linear system problem produce the solution $A^{-1}|b\rangle$ by querying two oracles: $O_A$ that block …
Feb 24, 2025 Raleigh Convention Center, 500 Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 United States
Video
Quantum linear system algorithm with optimal queries to initial state preparation (QIP 2025)
Quantum eigenvalue processing (QIP 2024)
Many problems in linear algebra – such as those arising from non-Hermitian physics and differential equations – can be …
Jan 18, 2024 Taipei International Convention Center, No. 1, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Taipei City 11049, Taiwan
Video
Quantum eigenvalue processing (QIP 2024)
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (UCLA 2023)
Quantum dynamics can be simulated on a quantum computer by exponentiating elementary terms from the Hamiltonian in a sequential manner. …
Oct 2, 2023 Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States
Video
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (UCLA 2023)
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (CPS 2023)
Quantum dynamics can be simulated on a quantum computer by exponentiating elementary terms from the Hamiltonian in a sequential manner. …
Aug 20, 2023 Ningxia University, Yinchuan City, Ningxia 750021, China (online event)
Video
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (CPS 2023)
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (IOP-CAS 2023)
Quantum dynamics can be simulated on a quantum computer by exponentiating elementary terms from the Hamiltonian in a sequential manner. …
Apr 13, 2023 Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China (online event)
Video
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps (IOP-CAS 2023)
Quantum algorithms for quantum simulation (ITP-CAS 2022, in Chinese)
This talk, delivered in Chinese, provides an overview of quantum algorithms for general-purpose Hamiltonian simulation. Topics included …
Jun 8, 2022 Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China (online event)
Video
Quantum algorithms for quantum simulation (ITP-CAS 2022, in Chinese)
Trotterization and Trotter Error (YQIS 2021)
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a simple approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Apr 16, 2021 Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States (online event)
Video
Trotterization and Trotter Error (YQIS 2021)
Nearly tight Trotterization of interacting electrons (QIP 2021)
We consider simulating quantum systems on digital quantum computers. We show that the performance of quantum simulation can be improved …
Feb 5, 2021 Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology, D-80799 Munich, Germany (online event)
Video
Nearly tight Trotterization of interacting electrons (QIP 2021)
A Theory of Trotter Error (IQIM Seminar)
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a direct approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Oct 30, 2020 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States (online event)
Video
A Theory of Trotter Error (IQIM Seminar)
A Theory of Trotter Error (Simons Institute)
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a direct approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Apr 28, 2020 Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States (online event)
Video
A Theory of Trotter Error (Simons Institute)
A Theory of Trotter Error (QCTIP 2020)
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a direct approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Apr 8, 2020 Riverlane, Cambridge CB2 3BZ, United Kingdom (online event)
Video
A Theory of Trotter Error (QCTIP 2020)
A Theory of Trotter Error (QIP 2020)
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a direct approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Jan 10, 2020 Peng Cheng Laboratory, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518066, China
Video
A Theory of Trotter Error (QIP 2020)
Digital quantum simulation by product formulas (TQC 2019)
Merged talk.

Faster quantum simulation by randomization:
Product formulas can be used to simulate Hamiltonian dynamics on a quantum …
Jun 5, 2019 University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
Video
Digital quantum simulation by product formulas (TQC 2019)
Toward the first quantum simulation with quantum speedup (QIP 2018)
With quantum computers of significant size now on the horizon, we should understand how to best exploit their initially limited …
Jan 15, 2018 Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, the Netherlands
Video
Toward the first quantum simulation with quantum speedup (QIP 2018)

Featured Publications

Quantum linear system algorithm with optimal queries to initial state preparation
The quantum linear system problem provides one of the most enticing sources of exponential quantum speedups, and its resolution …
Guang Hao Low, Yuan Su
PDF DOI QIP 2025
Quantum linear system algorithm with optimal queries to initial state preparation
Quantum eigenvalue processing
Many problems in linear algebra require processing eigenvalues of the input matrices. As eigenvalues are different from singular values …
Guang Hao Low, Yuan Su
PDF DOI QIP 2024 FOCS 2024 (Guang Hao Low) IVADO/UMontreal
Quantum eigenvalue processing
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps
Quantum dynamics can be simulated on a quantum computer by exponentiating elementary terms from the Hamiltonian in a sequential manner. …
Guang Hao Low, Yuan Su, Yu Tong, Minh C. Tran
PDF DOI CAS 2023 Microsoft Blog CPS 2023 UCLA 2023
On the complexity of implementing Trotter steps
Provably accurate simulation of gauge theories and bosonic systems
Quantum many-body systems involving bosonic modes or gauge fields have infinite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces which must be …
Yu Tong, Victor V. Albert, Jarrod R. McClean, John Preskill, Yuan Su
PDF DOI QIP 2022 (Yu Tong)
Provably accurate simulation of gauge theories and bosonic systems
Entanglement area law for 1D gauge theories and bosonic systems
We prove an entanglement area law for a class of 1D quantum systems involving infinite-dimensional local Hilbert spaces. This class of …
Nilin Abrahamsen, Yuan Su, Yu Tong, Nathan Wiebe
PDF QIP 2023 (Nathan Wiebe)
Entanglement area law for 1D gauge theories and bosonic systems
Fast-Forwardable Quantum Evolution and Where to Find Them
This is a Perspective on “Fast-forwarding quantum evolution” by Shouzhen Gu, Rolando D. Somma, and Burak Şahinoğlu, published in Quantum 5, 577 (2021).
Yuan Su
DOI Link
Fast-Forwardable Quantum Evolution and Where to Find Them
Nearly tight Trotterization of interacting electrons
We consider simulating quantum systems on digital quantum computers. We show that the performance of quantum simulation can be improved …
Yuan Su, Hsin-Yuan Huang, Earl T. Campbell
PDF DOI QIP 2021
Nearly tight Trotterization of interacting electrons
Faster Digital Quantum Simulation by Symmetry Protection
Simulating the dynamics of quantum systems is an important application of quantum computers and has seen a variety of implementations …
Minh C. Tran, Yuan Su, Daniel Carney, Jacob M. Taylor
PDF DOI TQC 2021 (Minh Tran) KITP 2022 (Minh Tran)
Faster Digital Quantum Simulation by Symmetry Protection
A Theory of Trotter Error
The Lie-Trotter formula, together with its higher-order generalizations, provides a simple approach to decomposing the exponential of a …
Andrew M. Childs, Yuan Su, Minh C. Tran, Nathan Wiebe, Shuchen Zhu
PDF DOI QIP 2020 QCTIP 2020 Simons Institute IQIM
A Theory of Trotter Error
Algorithms for quantum simulation: design, analysis, implementation, and application
Simulating the Hamiltonian dynamics of quantum systems is one of the most promising applications of digital quantum computers. In this …
Yuan Su
PDF DOI
Algorithms for quantum simulation: design, analysis, implementation, and application
Time-dependent Hamiltonian simulation with $L^1$-norm scaling
The difficulty of simulating quantum dynamics depends on the norm of the Hamiltonian. When the Hamiltonian varies with time, the …
Dominic W. Berry, Andrew M. Childs, Yuan Su, Xin Wang, Nathan Wiebe
PDF DOI
Time-dependent Hamiltonian simulation with $L^1$-norm scaling
Approximate Quantum Fourier Transform with $O(n\log(n))$ T gates
The ability to implement the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) efficiently on a quantum computer facilitates the advantages offered by a …
Yunseong Nam, Yuan Su, Dmitri Maslov
PDF DOI
Approximate Quantum Fourier Transform with $O(n\log(n))$ T gates
Faster quantum simulation by randomization
Product formulas can be used to simulate Hamiltonian dynamics on a quantum computer by approximating the exponential of a sum of …
Andrew M. Childs, Aaron Ostrander, Yuan Su
PDF DOI TQC 2019
Faster quantum simulation by randomization
Framework for Hamiltonian simulation and beyond: standard-form encoding, qubitization, and quantum signal processing
A unified framework for quantum simulation developed by Guang Hao Low and Isaac L. Chuang that leads to a simulation algorithm with not only optimal query complexity but also low ancilla overhead.
Yuan Su
DOI Link
Framework for Hamiltonian simulation and beyond: standard-form encoding, qubitization, and quantum signal processing
Nearly optimal lattice simulation by product formulas
We consider simulating an $n$-qubit Hamiltonian with nearest-neighbor interactions evolving for time $t$ on a quantum computer. We show …
Andrew M. Childs, Yuan Su
PDF DOI TQC 2019
Nearly optimal lattice simulation by product formulas
Quantum singular value transformation and beyond: exponential improvements for quantum matrix arithmetics
Quantum computing is powerful because unitary operators describing the time-evolution of a quantum system have exponential size in …
András Gilyén, Yuan Su, Guang Hao Low, Nathan Wiebe
PDF DOI
Quantum singular value transformation and beyond: exponential improvements for quantum matrix arithmetics
Toward the first quantum simulation with quantum speedup
With quantum computers of significant size now on the horizon, we should understand how to best exploit their initially limited …
Andrew M. Childs, Dmitri Maslov, Yunseong Nam, Neil J. Ross, Yuan Su
PDF DOI IBM (Andrew Childs) QIP 2018
Toward the first quantum simulation with quantum speedup

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