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Chris Heunen

@chrisheunen.bsky.social
179 followers 126 following 29 posts

computer scientist, mathematician, father, karateka, pianist

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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Now published as Editor's Pick in the Journal of Mathematical Physics: doi.org/10.1063/5.03...
doi.org
Causal coverage in ordered locales and spacetimes
We develop relativistic causality theory in the setting of point-free topology by introducing a notion of causal coverage in ordered locales, generalising their
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Oopsy, a latex error snuck through. Too late to fix now, but thanks for pointing it out!
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Despite this austerity, the model is universal: it densely approximates all unitaries and extends to measurement and classical control. Same computational power as the standard model, but with cleaner foundations.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The model is fully discrete: finite generators, finite equations, no continuous parameters. That enables exact symbolic reasoning. Crucially, the axioms are complete: all valid equalities are derivable.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The qualitative gap between classical and quantum computing is isolated sharply: the ability to take well-behaved square roots; operationally speaking, the ability to stop some computations halfway.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
The answer is a free model. "Free" means minimal and universal: any quantum model satisfying the axioms factors uniquely through it. Nothing extra is assumed beyond what is forced.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Quantum computing is usually framed in complex linear algebra. This paper asks: what is the least you need to add to reversible classical computing to recover quantum computation? www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @manchegobaby.bsky.social
pnas.org
Free quantum computing | PNAS
Quantum computing improves substantially on known classical algorithms for various important problems, but the nature of the relationship between q...
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Want to shape the global direction of quantum software? We're open to new member organisations! See quantumsoftwarealliance.org/documents/ch...
quantumsoftwarealliance.org
Charter – Quantum Software Alliance
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
One specific goal is to keep an unbiased Global Quantum Software Research Agenda: quantumsoftwarealliance.org/documents/gl...
quantumsoftwarealliance.org
Quantum Software Alliance – A Global Alliance Advancing Quantum Software
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
At the closing of the UN International Year of Quantum today, the Quantum Software Alliance was born! Founded by institutions from 15 countries over 4 continents, QSA will champion and co-ordinate the development of #quantumsoftware: quantumsoftwarealliance.org
Quantum Software Alliance logo
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Research Associate position available at the University of Edinburgh Quantum Software Lab to work on a joint project on orchestration of heterogeneous quantum computers with Fujitsu. Apply here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
Research Associate
The School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh invites applications for a Research Associate.The post holder will work on the project “Optimal orchestration of heterogeneous quantum computers”.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk
Six weeks left to apply: 16 fully funded Quantum Informatics PhDs
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 11/11/2025
The number of low-quality or fraudulent publications is rising to hundreds of thousands per year. It is time to reevaluate current publishing models and outline a global plan. Read the 'Reformation of science publishing: the Stockholm Declaration': royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #RSOS 🧪
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Our notation implicitly assumed one more equation, (h) below, now added. Thanks to Peter Selinger for catching this!
The equations governing controlled circuits.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Sheaves over such causal coverages now describe how to assign data to your spacetime such that "past data evolves continuously and deterministically into future data". For much more, see Nesta's great PhD thesis, with many fun ideas and pictures: arxiv.org/abs/2406.15406.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
That means you need a way to think about paths in terms of open sets rather than points. The idea: approximate a path by finer and finer finite sequences of opens that are causally before each other.
Illustration of a path of points regarded as an infinitesimally thin approximation by sequences of opens that causally precede each other.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Well, you don't need points to describe that, and can do it purely with open sets. This new paper with Nesta van der Schaaf describes how: arxiv.org/abs/2510.17417. The idea is in the picture: region U is covered by collection A of regions if any causal path that ends up in U must pass through A.
arxiv.org
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Coverages, or Grothendieck topologies, describe when a collection of regions covers another region in a space. But what if your space is a spacetime? The topological space may have a causal order saying which (spacetime) points 'come before' which other points, for example.
Illustration of causal coverage: region U is covered by regions A because any path that ends in U must pass through A.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Also about circuits: the physics Nobel prize just announced!
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
So much material for titles here, too! "If you liked it you shoulda put a rig on it", "The rig is up", "Taking back control". What's your favourite?
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Theorem: these two ways to build a theory of controlled circuits are the same! Practically, this means the equations are complete, and we can use them to manipulate and optimise controlled circuits. Foundationally, this pins down what this not-quite-data-or-control-flow control really is about.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Another thing you can do is make a new theory where 'controlled gates' are, roughly, matrices of base gates. Technically, you freely adjoin sums to the base (tensor) prop, universally giving it rig structure.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
The equations all have natural interpretations. For example, the complementarity equation (e) says that a gate on the target wire is the same as a positively controlled and then a negatively controlled version of it: the control bit is either on or off.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Start with any base circuit theory, in terms of tensors only; technically, as a prop. Build a new controlled circuit theory that has controlled versions of the base gates, subject to these equations.
The equations governing controlled gates.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
The key is that circuits contain controlled gates. It's not quite data flow, nor control flow, in the usual computer science sense. But it is clearly important. Can we take back this control, and separate this control from a base theory of uncontrolled circuits? Yes we can!
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Have you ever wondered why we describe circuits with matrices? I mean, circuits are about tensor products, while matrices are about direct sums. This new paper with Louis Lemonnier and @manchegobaby.bsky.social gives a practically useful explanation: arxiv.org/abs/2510.05032.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
A new quantum programming construct: more abstract than circuits, capturing important examples elegantly and in fact universal, yet simple and intuitive. With prototype compiler and clean categorical semantics to boot! With Alex Rice, Chris McNally, and Louis Lemonnier: arxiv.org/abs/2507.11676
arxiv.org
Quantum circuits are just a phase
Quantum programs today are written at a low level of abstraction - quantum circuits akin to assembly languages - and even advanced quantum programming languages essentially function as circuit descrip...
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
María Gragera Garcés @grageragarces.github.io · 12/06/2025
I presented a taster poster on our upcoming work in distributed quantum compilation at the Uni of Edinburgh’s Informatics internal research showcase this Tuesday. Focus: our upcoming model/hardware-agnostic intermediate representation for compilation of quantum programs (quite a mouthful I know!)
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
Raven Onthill @ravenonthill.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
A discussion of the success of Bell Labs as a research organization and why we have nothing like it anymore.
manganiello.social
Fabio Manganiello (@fabio@manganiello.social)
Why Bell Labs worked so well, and could innovate so much, while today’s innovation, in spite of the huge private funding, goes in hype-and-fizzle cycles that leave relatively little behind, is a qu...
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
A sound and complete finite system of equations to manipulate Toffoli+Hadamard quantum circuits you say, so you can automate circuit optimisation, you say? Why of course, here you go: arxiv.org/abs/2506.06835, with Wang Fang and @manchegobaby.bsky.social.
arxiv.org
Hadamard-$Π$: Equational Quantum Programming
Quantum computing offers advantages over classical computation, yet the precise features that set the two apart remain unclear. In the standard quantum circuit model, adding a 1-qubit basis-changing g...
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
Itai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
90% of doing science is being open to new ideas.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
🚨 New preprint alert 🚨 Always wanted to know the connection between analytic limits and categorical limits? Tired of having to establish directed colimits of contractions when directed colimits of isometries suffice? You're in luck! Now on www.arxiv.org/abs/2505.17432. With Matt Di Meglio.
arxiv.org
M*-categories: Where limits in analysis and category theory meet
This article introduces M*-categories: an abstraction of categories with similar algebraic and analytic properties to the categories of real, complex, and quaternionic Hilbert spaces and bounded linea...
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
María Gragera Garcés @grageragarces.github.io · 25/04/2025
Edinburgh local curious about how physics is shaping computer science? Come along to this light & fun Pint of science session, and hear me ramble about quantum computers. Perfect for the curious general public! Register here: pintofscience.co.uk/event/subato...
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
qi-cdt.bsky.social @qi-cdt.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Two more days to get your application in! Apply now at quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk.
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Chris Heunen @chrisheunen.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Applications are now open for September 2025 entry to the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Informatics. At least 16 fully-funded PhD studentships are available! Apply at quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk.
Quantum Informatics logo
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Reposted by Chris Heunen
Joschka Roffe @qec.codes · 18/11/2024
📢PhD Positions in Quantum Computing Applications are now open for the new CDT in Quantum Informatics. We are recruiting 16 students to start Sept 2025. Positions are fully funded for 4 years. Apply now: quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk
quantuminformatics-cdt.ac.uk
QI CDT – EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Informatics
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