Who
Dr. Kostas Blekos
The Cyprus Institute
When
24 Jul 2026, 11:00 Athens time, Science Building 145Π58
Title
Quantum Physics with Emphasis on Photonic Quantum Computers and Quantum Simulators
Abstract
Quantum hardware has advanced faster than our understanding of what to compute with it. The talk describes a research programme aimed at that gap, taking quantum simulation as the application where the case is strongest and photonic and hybrid light-matter systems as its platforms. It opens with how quantum computers and quantum simulators work and then presents variational quantum algorithms as the practical near-term method, with results obtained on current quantum processors. It closes with ongoing work on photonic and hybrid light-matter platforms as analog quantum simulators, and with the direction of the programme in the coming years.
About the Speaker
Dr. Kostas Blekos is an Associate Research Scientist in Quantum Computing at CaSToRC within The Cyprus Institute and a core member of the QUEST team. He earned his Ph.D. in Theoretical and Computational Physics from the University of Patras, working on the optical control of quantum systems and photon sources. His research bridges applied and mathematical aspects of quantum computing, spanning quantum complexity theory, quantum information, and the design of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms (notably the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, QAOA), alongside machine learning for physical-science applications. He has led initiatives that include devising new quantum algorithms, advancing quantum control and noise-mitigation methods, and exploring the quantum simulation of many-body dynamics on emerging quantum processors, logging hundreds of hours of experimental runs on quantum-processing units (QPUs).
