Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation's Division of Information and Intelligent Systems awarded $559,520 to the University of Washington under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) program (CFDA 47.070) on September 15, 2026, for a project extending through August 31, 2031. This CAREER award supports the development of computational complexity theory addressing many-body quantum entanglement, with primary deliverables centered on establishing lower bounds for the description complexity of quantum states derived from local Hamiltonians. The project will produce theoretical frameworks explaining when physically motivated quantum states—particularly ground and low-energy states—admit efficient classical description and verification, and when such tasks are provably intractable.

The research outputs will advance understanding of quantum complexity classes, quantum query complexity, and state transformation properties, with progress expected toward resolving the quantum Polynomial Constraint Satisfaction Problem (PCP) conjecture. Additionally, the award supports significant workforce development initiatives, including graduate-level curriculum development in quantum complexity theory and structured mentored research pathways for undergraduate and graduate students designed to broaden participation in theoretical quantum computing. The project addresses the growing computational challenges posed by near-term quantum devices whose operational regimes increasingly probe entanglement patterns that are classically intractable.