Raymond Laflamme

Raymond Laflamme profile picture
Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC)
Research Associate Faculty
Areas of research:
Quantum Information
(519) 888-4567 x32430
Raymond obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge, in 1988. He began his career working with Stephen Hawking on questions in quantum gravity and cosmology, but his interests have moved to quantum information science and technology. His research encompass both theory and experiments.
Founding Director Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo
Information processing is pervasive, it has changed the way we do science, the way we entertain ourselves, the structure of the economy, and ultimately who we are. This information revolution has happened because of the incredible progress made to manipulate larger and larger amounts of information by shrinking the size of transistors. As we move toward that scale, we need a better approximation to the laws of physics than the one provided by classical mechanics, we need quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is presently a hindrance to push the limits of the size of transistors as we try to keep computing classically. In the last 20 years, physicists and computer scientists have discovered that we could instead take advantage of quantum mechanics. The goal of my work is to harness quantum mechanical effects and use them for information processing. It turns out that this leads to new mind-boggling devices that seem much more powerful that their classical counterpart. A large fraction of my energy is focused on finding and developing methods to control, manipulate and make quantum information robust against noise and imperfection that are present in realistic devices. I also attempt to understand why these devices are so powerful and try to find new applications for them.
  • Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis John von Neumann Chair in Quantum Information, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, 2017-present
  • President, QuantumLaf Inc, 2016-present
  • CSO, Universal Quantum Devices, 2011-2021
  • Scientific Director, QuantumWorks, 2006-2012
  • Visitor, Program on Quantum Information, Newton Institute, 2004-present
  • Director, Quantum Information Program at CIFAR, 2003-2016
  • Director, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, 2002-2017
  • Professor, Department of Physics, University of Waterloo, 2001-present
  • Visiting Scientist, Francis Bitter Lab., MIT, 2000-present
  • Visitor, Newton Institute for the Quantum Computing program, 1999-present
  • Technical staff member, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1997-2001
  • Visitor, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California at Santa-Barbara, 1996
  • Visitor, Newton Institute for the Quantum Gravity program, 1994
  • Oppenheimer Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1994-1997
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1992-1994
  • Research Fellow, Peterhouse College, 1990-1992
  • Visitor, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California at Santa-Barbara, 1988-present
  • Visitor, Instituto de Optica, Daza de Valdes, CSIC, Madrid, 1988-present
  • Killam Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, 1988-1990
  • Co-Chair of National Quantum Strategy Council, ISED, 2023
  • Chair, Panel on Quantum Information Science and Technology,, Canadian Council of Acvademies, 2023
  • Canada-UK Call for Proposals on Quantum Technologies, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2021-2024
  • CAP-CRM Prize, Canadian Association of Physicists, 2017
  • Officer of the Order of Canada, Governor General of Canada, 2017
  • Discovery Grant "Quantum Error Correction: Theory and Experiment", Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2016-2022
  • Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Governor General of Canada, 2013
  • Doctorat Honorifique, Universite de Sherbrooke, 2012
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2012
  • Fellow, American Physical Society, 2011
  • Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, 2008
  • Diplomes Influents, Universite Laval, 2008
  • Inaugural Top 50 Discoveries List for 2006, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), 2006
  • Ivey Foundation Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), 2005
  • Médaille Grande Escolle de l'Association des Diplomés, Université Laval, 2005
  • Premier Research Award, Government of Ontario, 2002
  • Fellow in the Quantum Information Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), 2001
  • Achievement Award, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1998
  • Top ten breakthroughs of the year, Science journal, 1998
  • National Fellow, Canadian Institute of Theoretical Physics (CITA), 1988
  • Girton College Research Studentship, University of Cambridge, 1987
  • J.T. Knight Prize, University of Cambridge, 1986
  • Phyllis Tillyard Prize, Girton College, 1984
  • Girton College Graduate Scholarship, University of Cambridge, 1984
  • Majidy, S., Laflamme, R., & Wilson, C. (2024). Building quntum computers, a practical introduction. Cambridge Unicversity Press.
  • Majidy, S., Laflamme, R., & Wilson, C. (2024). Building Quantum Computers A Practical Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
  • Cao, N., Fitzsimmons, M., Mann, Z., Pereira, R., & Laflamme, R. (2023). Quantum Maps Between CPTP and HPTP. arxiv:2308.01894v1
  • Crum, N. A., Sunny, L., Ronagh, P., Laflamme, R., Balu, R., & Siopsis, G. (2023). On the Computational Cost of Stochastic Security. arxiv:2305.07973v1
  • Ray, A., Laflamme, R., & Kubica, A. (2023). Protecting information via probabilistic cellular automata. arxiv:2304.03240v1
  • Kop, M., Aboy, M., Jong, E. D., Gasser, U., Minssen, T., Cohen, I. G., . . . Laflamme, R. (2023). Towards responsible quantum technology, safeguarding, engaging and advancing Quantum R&D. arxiv:2303.16671v1
  • Rodríguez-Briones, N. A., Katiyar, H., Martín-Martínez, E., & Laflamme, R. (2023). Experimental Activation of Strong Local Passive States with Quantum Information. Physical Review Letters, 130(11), 110801. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.130.110801
  • Laflamme, R., Lin, J., & Mor, T. (2022). Algorithmic cooling for resolving state preparation and measurement errors in quantum computing. Physical Review A, 106(1), 012439. doi:10.1103/physreva.106.012439
  • Wang, D. -S., Wang, Y. -J., Cao, N., Zeng, B., & Laflamme, R. (2022). Theory of quasi-exact fault-tolerant quantum computing and valence-bond-solid codes. New Journal of Physics, 24(2), 023019. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ac4737
  • Laflamme, R., Majidy, S., & Wilson, C. (2022). An Introduction to Building Quantum Computers. NA.
  • Cao, N., Lin, J., Kribs, D., Poon, Y. -T., Zeng, B., & Laflamme, R. (2021). NISQ: Error Correction, Mitigation, and Noise Simulation. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2111.02345
  • Lin, J., Wallman, J. J., Hincks, I., & Laflamme, R. (2021). Independent state and measurement characterization for quantum computers. Physical Review Research, 3(3), 033285. doi:10.1103/physrevresearch.3.033285
  • Majidy, S., Halliwell, J. J., & Laflamme, R. (2021). Detecting violations of macrorealism when the original Leggett-Garg inequalities are satisfied. Physical Review A, 103(6), 062212. doi:10.1103/physreva.103.062212
  • Yang, X., Chen, X., Li, J., Peng, X., & Laflamme, R. (n.d.). Hybrid quantum-classical approach to enhanced quantum metrology. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 672. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-80070-1
  • Commercialisation of quantum technologies, Institute for Quantum Computing, 2021/12/13
  • Quantum Computers and Simulators, What are the options for building a large scale quantum computer?, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Paris-Saclay, 2021/11/29