QUBITS Seminar: Free Quantum Computing w. Robin Kaarsgaard Sales

Associate Professor Robin Kaarsgaard Sales (University of Southern Denmark) presents a “free” model of quantum computing that replaces continuous postulates with discrete equations and linear algebra with category theory. The approach isolates quantum advantage and enables combinatorial optimisation, automated verification, and reasoning about quantum programs.

Info about event

Time

Monday 2 March 2026, at 02:15 - 04:00

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Location

iNANO Aud. (1593-012)

Organizer

Quantum Campus Aarhus (QCA)

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Speaker Associate Professor Robin Kaarsgaard Sales, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark.

By Anna Klingenberg

About the talk
Quantum computing improves substantially on known classical algorithms for various important problems, but the nature of the relationship between quantum and classical computing is not yet fully understood. This relationship can be clarified by free models, that add to classical computing just enough physical principles to represent quantum computing and no more. In this talk, I will describe an axiomatisation of quantum computing that replaces the standard continuous postulates with a small number of discrete equations, as well as a free model that replaces the standard linear-algebraic model with a category-theoretical one.

The axioms and model are based on reversible classical computing, isolate quantum advantage in the ability to take certain well-behaved square roots, and link to various quantum computing hardware platforms. This approach allows combinatorial optimisation, including brute force computer search, to optimise quantum computations. The free model may be interpreted as a programming language for quantum computers, that has the same expressivity and computational universality as the standard model, but additionally allows automated verification and reasoning.

About the speaker
Robin Kaarsgaard is associate professor of computer science at the University of Southern Denmark, where he works on quantum foundations and on developing the programming languages that will power future large-scale quantum computers. He is principal investigator of the DFF: Sapere Aude project “FunQ: Quantum Programming Beyond the Circuit Model,” and associated with the Centre for Quantum Mathematics and Centre for Formal Methods and Future Computing. Before accepting a position at the University of Southern Denmark, Kaarsgaard held positions at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Copenhagen, where he also received his PhD.

The seminar consists of a 45-minute talk followed by refreshments and informal discussions.

See the full QUBITS Seminar program through event website