Quantum Research Engineer Intern

Job Description

Job Title: Quantum Research Intern/Contractor, Material Science and/or PDE

Department: R&D Innovation Lab

Duration: 6 months, March-August (Flexible)

Supervisor: Heloise Pajot, Digital Innovation Lead

Location: Palo Alto, CA or remote (USA)

Schedule: Part-time (20h/week)

Compensation: Paid, compensation commensurate based on qualifications and experience

About the company

EDF (Électricité de France) is a global, integrated energy company and the world’s largest electricity producer. With 140 GW of generation capacity across more than 30 countries, EDF generates over 650 TWh of electricity for 38 million customers, and 85% of that electricity has low or no carbon emissions. With 171,000 employees worldwide, EDF is active in the entire value chain of the electric industry, including R&D, project development, generation, trading, transmission, distribution, sales, and energy services.

In the US, EDF’s operations include EDF Renewables North America, EDF Energy North America, EDF R&D, and several smaller business units. EDF R&D has 1,800 researchers and 9 labs, including three in France, EDF Innovation Lab in the US, and others globally. Their role is to provide R&D, innovation, and business development support to the EDF Group. This is done through the creation of partnerships and collaborations with leading research institutions and industries and the identification and development of innovative technologies and solutions.

About the role

EDF is at the forefront of solving complex optimization and simulation problems in the Energy Industry. For over two decades, we have been operating our own High-Performance Computers (HPC) and developing numerous calculation codes to address these challenges.

Given the growing scale and complexity of the energy industry, and to anticipate tomorrow’s challenges, EDF started exploring Quantum technologies in 2017. Today our quantum team gathers 20 researchers across France, Asia-Pacific, and the US working on several applications from quantum computing for optimization, simulation, and Quantum Machine Learning (QML) to quantum sensors and post-quantum cybersecurity. Given the early stage of the technology, it’s uncommon for a utility company to invest such effort in quantum research. We’re proud to be among the leaders in quantum research for the energy industry.

We are currently seeking a talented and highly motivated Quantum Research Engineer Intern/Contractor to join our Digital Innovation team in Palo Alto, CA.

In this role, you will support us on one of our Quantum Computing for Material Science research projects. You will oversee the development of the Z2 slave-spin approach [1] to simulate a 3D one-band Fermi-Hubbard model with an arbitrary filling. The final goal of this work is to prove numerically the efficiency of the method and being able to implement it on a real cold atoms quantum computer. A theoretical and numerical proof for the one-band 2D Fermi Hubbard model at half-filling has already been shown in the literature [2]. You work will mainly be to deal with the constraint imposed by the slave-spin approach and the optimization of the chemical potential to enforce an arbitrary filling within the convergence of self-consistent loops. You will start the design of a digital quantum algorithm to simulate the approach on a realistic quantum computer to recover key properties of the Fermi-Hubbard model.

This position offers a unique opportunity to work at the cutting edge of quantum computing applications in the energy sector.  You will have the opportunity to publish and present high-impact results, and join a growing community of researchers exploring quantum computing.

If you have a strong technical background, a passion for Quantum Computing, and an interest in the Energy Industry, apply now and join us in shaping the future of energy!

[1] Rüegg, A., Huber, S. D., & Sigrist, M. (2010). Z 2-slave-spin theory for strongly correlated fermions. Physical Review B—Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 81(15), 155118.

[2] Michel, A., Henriet, L., Domain, C., Browaeys, A., & Ayral, T. (2024). Hubbard physics with Rydberg atoms: using a quantum spin simulator to simulate strong fermionic correlations. Physical Review B, 109(17), 174409.

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NOTE: We are also Hiring for an other quantum position on PDE, please find more details here: https://www.edf-innovation-lab.com/join-us/

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Qualifications:

• PhD level or currently pursuing a PhD degree in Quantum Physics, condensed matter or a relevant field.
• Strong background in quantum physics, mathematics, and algorithms.
• Proficient coding skills in Python or relevant languages.
• Experience with quantum programming languages.
• Strong knowledge on Condensed matter and spin physics would be a plus.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication skills for collaborating with international teams and partners.
• Ability to present complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Key responsibilities:

• Assess the potential of the slave spin approach to simulate fermionic systems on a cold atom device.
• Design and test a method to enforce the fulfilling of the constraint and the filling.
• Think a way to implement the full approach on a real digital hardware.
• Code in Python
• Collaborate with partners in France and in the US.

All of these tasks will be related to the work already carried out by EDF in previous years. The person may perform other duties assigned.

How to Apply

• Send your resume to heloise.pajot@edf-inc.com with “Application – Quantum Research Engineer Role in Materials Science” in the subject line.
• In your email, please include your availability and a brief statement of your motivation for this position.
• Please note that only applications submitted via email will be considered. Due to the high volume of resumes on Handshake, applications submitted there will not be reviewed.

EDF Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for all positions without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.