Speaker: Wenchao Ge (A&S)Date/Time/Location: Oct 30, 3pm, Memorial Union room 308.Title: Introduction to Quantum Computing and Variational Quantum AlgorithmsAbstract: In this talk, I will introduce the basics of quantum computing and discuss a leading strategy to use quantum computers--variational quantum algorithms. In the first half, I will explain what quantum computing is, why it is interesting, and the state-of-the-art in quantum computing. In the second half, I will talk about the components and the properties of variational quantum algorithms, which use a classical optimizer to train a parametrized quantum circuit. As an example, I will discuss the idea of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm and its applications to solve combinatorial problems, such as the Max-Cut problem.