Kihwan Kim, Tsinghua University, China

Professor Kihwan Kim is a tenured professor at the Physics Department of Tsinghua University. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Seoul National University. He then did postdoctoral work at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Maryland. Since joining Tsinghua University in 2011, he has pursued the development of quantum computation and quantum information science using trapped ions. He also raised many talented students, and under his guidance, more than 10 students have already received doctoral degrees and been pursuing their research careers.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
My research mainly focus on developing trapped-ion system for quantum information science such as quantum computation and quantum simulation. In particular, we are considering reaching the level of quantum advantage with trapped ions by demonstrating the algorithms of quantum boson sampling or similar to random gate sampling.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
To my opinion, the biggest advancement in quantum science to date is related to the demonstration of quantum advantages. For the moment, only superconducting system and photonic systems were able to claim the quantum advantages.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
Until now, quantum advantage has only been implemented in algorithms that have shown no utility, such as random gate sampling or conservation sampling. Even that is still controversial. While it is necessary to reach quantum advantage without any doubts or loopholes, the next big breakthrough would be using quantum computers to outperform classical methods on practically useful problems.

What role does the journal Quantum Science and Technology play in supporting research in the field?
I believe that the best way to support research is to provide a good review good quality papers and select the best ones so that they can be published.