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+tags: VQE, Hamiltonian-level, NISQ, Noise, Numerical, Theory
+title: "Optimal Hamiltonian control for variational quantum algorithms: On spin-qubit quantum processors (Girton)"
+sort-date: 2026-09-18
+description: Foundations of Quantum Technologies | 18 September 2026 12:00–12:20 BST | Girton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (given virtually due to injury)
+---
+
+[[/index|Christopher K. Long]]<a href="https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3230-942X"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+Nicholas J. Mayhall<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1312-9781"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+Sophia E. Economou<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1939-5589"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+Edwin Barnes<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1666-9385"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+Crispin H. W. Barnes<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7337-7245"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+Frederico Martins<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2668-2401"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+David R. M. Arvidsson-Shukur<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0185-0352"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>,
+and Normann Mertig<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3025-7141"><font color="#a6ce39"><i class='fa-brands fa-orcid'></i></font></a>
+
+**Date & time:** 18 September 2026 12:00–12:20 BST
+
+**Location:** Girton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (given virtually due to injury)
+
+**Conference:** [Foundations of Quantum Technologies](https://www.girton.cam.ac.uk/events/foundations-quantum-technologies) [@girton_foundations_quantum_technologies]
+
+I presented a summary of Ref. [@Long2025] and my [[/Articles/PhD thesis]] [@thesis].
+
+# Abstract
+
+From Ref. [@girton_foundations_quantum_technologies_abstracts]:
+
+> Variational quantum algorithms (VQAs) were once believed to be the fastest route to demonstrating practical quantum advantage. VQAs use a parameterized quantum circuit to perform a machine-learning task. For example, VQAs can employ the Rayleigh–Ritz method to estimate a molecule's eigenenergies. While VQAs are already used to bootstrap quantum processors, their utility for quantum chemistry tasks has been questioned. The three main concerns are runtime, noise on near-term devices, and optimizability. In this talk, I will present a new approach to VQAs that overcomes all three concerns. To achieve this, coauthors and I replaced the gate-based quantum-circuit approach with a Hamiltonian-control approach tailored to spin-qubit quantum processors. I will present numerical emulations demonstrating a $100$-fold acceleration, along with $10^5$- and $1000$-fold improvements in the required $T_1$ and $T_2^*$ coherence times, respectively. These improvements bring the device requirements in line with present-day quantum processors. Finally, we retain the optimizability of state-of-the-art adaptive VQE algorithms through adaptive quantum optimal control and careful encoding of molecular Hamiltonians. Specifically, we ensure that the native two-qubit interactions generate the same Lie algebra as time-reversible fermionic excitations within the molecule of interest.
+
+# Recording
+
+![[https://youtu.be/zRikXKlZ0dQ]]
+
+# Slide deck
+
+Download: [[HTML/Optimal Hamiltonian control for variational quantum algorithms (Girton).zip|HTML]], [[PDFs/Optimal Hamiltonian control for variational quantum algorithms (Girton).pdf|PDF]]
+
+<iframe src="HTML/Optimal%20Hamiltonian%20control%20for%20variational%20quantum%20algorithms%20(Girton)/" width="100%" style="aspect-ratio: 16 / 9; border: 0;" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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