Aspiring Quantum Chemist with Professor Lin Lin

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Sebastian interviews Professor Lin Lin during the System One ribbon cutting event at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Professor Lin Lin's journey from computational mathematics to quantum chemistry has been driven by his fascination with modeling nature through computation. As a student at Peking University, he was intrigued by the concept of first principles modeling, which aims to simulate chemical systems using minimal information such as atomic species and positions. Lin Lin pursued this interest during his PhD at Princeton University, working with mathematicians and chemists to develop better algorithms for density functional theory (DFT). DFT reformulates the high-dimensional quantum chemistry problem into a more tractable three-dimensional one, albeit with approximations. While DFT works well for about 95% of cases, it struggles with large systems and the remaining "strongly correlated" 5%. Lin Lin and his collaborators radically reformulated DFT to enable calculations on much larger systems, leading to his faculty position at UC Berkeley in 2014.

In 2018, a watershed year marked by his tenure, Lin Lin decided to tackle the challenging 5% of strongly correlated quantum chemistry problems. Two emerging approaches showed promise: artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. Both AI and quantum computing are well-suited for handling high-dimensional problems, albeit in fundamentally different ways. Lin Lin aimed to leverage both approaches, collaborating on the development of deep molecular dynamics using AI to efficiently parameterize interatomic potentials. On the quantum computing side, his group worked to reformulate quantum chemistry for quantum computers. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lin Lin and his collaborators have made significant strides in combining AI and quantum computing to push the boundaries of computational chemistry simulations, bridging the fields of mathematics, chemistry, AI, and quantum computing in an exciting new frontier.

Thanks again to Professor Lin and everyone at RPI for hosting me and providing such an amazing opportunity to interview so many brilliant researchers. 

Creators and Guests

Sebastian Hassinger🌻
Host
Sebastian Hassinger🌻
Business development #QuantumComputing @AWScloud Opinions mine, he/him.
Lin Lin
Guest
Lin Lin
Lin Lin is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at UC Berkeley, and a Faculty Scientist in the Mathematics Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research focuses on solving quantum many-body problems by employing both classical and contemporary methods.
Omar Costa Hamido
Composer
Omar Costa Hamido
OCH is a performer, composer, and technologist, working primarily in multimedia and improvisation. His current research is on quantum computing and music composition, telematics, and multimedia. He is passionate about emerging technology, cinema, teaching, and performing new works. He earned his PhD in Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology at University of California, Irvine with his research project Adventures in Quantumland (quantumland.art). He also earned his MA in Music Theory and Composition at ESMAE-IPP Portugal with his research on the relations between music and painting. In recent years, his work has been recognized with grants and awards from MSCA, Fulbright, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Medici, Beall Center for Art+Technology, and IBM.
Aspiring Quantum Chemist with Professor Lin Lin
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