From the Institute to Quantum Computing. Interview with Arturo Sauza de la Vega

He attributes to destiny the fact that he got to study a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, Illinois, USA. He remembers that during his career, an acquaintance from high school shared with him that he had discovered UNAM’s headquarters in this city, so he took on the task of searching for UNAM on Google, acknowledging his desire to be in contact with his alma mater. “I signed up and now I feel much more in touch when I receive the newsletter every Monday with cultural and academic activities.”

He also considers himself “a bit nerdy in the field of chemistry”. He studied chemical engineering at the National Polytechnic Institute while also studying chemistry at UNAM. After finishing, he decided to continue with a Master’s degree at the Institute of Chemistry where he developed his research on quantum computing.


Alberto Foncerrada Berumen: It must bequite an experience to be in one of the great universities of the world such as the University of Chicago.
Arturo Sauza de la Vega: I am surprised by the number of resources they have. It’s a dream. Since I was studying for my degree, I knew that research was my passion. I knew I wanted to get a Ph.D.. I had some insecurities, but I decided to study a Master’s degree in Mexico and prepare myself as good as possible, improve my English and my general knowledge of chemistry so I could start my doctorate outside Mexico. I really wanted to broaden my horizons.


AFB: What does your research consist of?
ASV: A few years back, some journalists wanted to pin down Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, asking him about quantum computing. Surprisingly, he knew how to respond. Not everyone knows. That is my field of study.

In the world of computing, we have two types of computers: classical and quantum. The latter is just under development. The big difference between the two is that the classic type handles information through units that are called bits. Every computer instruction is a sequence of zeros and ones. Quantum computers have a fundamental unit called qubit or quantum bit, and this can have values ​​between zero, one, and many more. Thus, we are exploiting the quantum-mechanical properties of systems.

There are different types of qubits. For example, one of IBM’s supercomputers, or quantum computers, uses qubits that are superconducting circuits. For example, light can be used as a qubit. What I am interested in is something we call molecular qubits, which means you can use a molecule as a qubit, that is, instead of working, for example, with a circuit with temperatures close to zero Kelvin like those of IBM. I am designing these molecular qubits through computational calculations throught which we can obtain information control properties.


AFB: Is this field an area of ​​opportunity in Mexico? Is it possible to cooperate and enhance what you are doing here?
ASV: I think yes. What I do are quantum mechanics calculations which I had been doing back in Mexico. Of course, I did them with a different approach. There development opportunities within the area of ​​quantum computing. Once you have the qubits, what follows is to design quantum computing algorithms and there are applications for that. For example, you can request access to IBM or Google, and connect with them, design your algorithms and make calculations with quantum computers; that technology is available to everyone. So, yes, there are opportunities.


AFB: After the doctorate, what’s next for you?
ASV: After finishing I would like to stay in the academic wold. It fascinates me and brings me a lot of fun. For this, one has to do a postdoctoral residency. That would be the first step and then seek for a place in a university or in a national laboratory in the United States. A joke to a friend: “There are people who suffer in their doctorate for four years. Well, therefore I want to suffer in something that I enjoy. I would like to continue suffering”.

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