Montana State University QCORE has undertaken an ambitious research agenda with a focus on quantum computing, quantum communications and quantum sensing. Success in these fields relies on principles established in quantum physics such as entanglement, superposition and coherence. Technology based on these principles of quantum physics can lead to computation with exponential speedup over classical techniques for certain problems, provably secure communication, and higher precision sensors.

Join us for QCORE's Seminar Series

All are welcome to join QCORE's weekly Seminar Series, hosted each Wednesday afternoon at 4:10 pm at QCORE in EngineWorks, 2425 Technology Blvd. West, Bozeman. See upcoming and past talks and speaker affiliations below.

Coming from campus? TheCAT Tracks Campus ShuttleBlue Line stops at Nopper, which is just a short walk from EngineWorks.

The spring seminar seris is underway! To read about past talks, visit our seminar series web page.
To stay up-to-date on the seminar series and all news about QCORE, subscribe to the QCORE newsletter.

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 - 4pm at QCORE - Dr. Sam Gunningham, Mathematics

An Introduction to Quantum Topology

Mathematician’s have long been interested in the study of knots and links in 3-dimensional space. Pioneering work of Jones, Witten, Reshetikhin, Turaev, and others in the 1980s and 90s completely transformed the field, introducing new tools and ideas inspired by quantum physics. This has led to a remarkably fruitful interchange of ideas between mathematics (e.g. lowdimensional topology and representation theory) and physics (e.g. condensed matter and quantum computing). I will aim to give a gentle introduction to the subject from a mathematician's point of view. 

Dr. Gunningham’s work is broadly in the Geometric Representation Theory, drawing on ideas from geometry, topology, mathematical physics, and related fields. Many of the phenomena he studies can be viewed through topological field theory (TFT). In physics, TFTs arise from quantum field theories that do not depend on the spacetime metric, often after a suitable twist or limit. Mathematically, a TFT assigns numerical and linear algebraic data to manifolds. Dualities predicted by physics, particularly string theory, therefore lead to concrete mathematical predictions that can be precisely formulated and proved. 

 

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