Dr. Finn Lasse Buessen joined the University of Toronto as a postdoctoral fellow in 2019 as part of the quantum condensed matter group. He was recently awarded a fellowship in the Mitacs Elevate program and is now collaborating with Professor Dvira Segal and the Toronto-based quantum technology startup “Entangled Networks” to research scalable quantum algorithms and their implementation on distributed quantum computers.

Dr. Lasse Buessen obtained his PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Cologne, Germany, where he was part of a group that had a strong focus on computational condensed matter physics. He spent many years developing and refining numerical techniques for the simulation of quantum magnetism. His work was motivated by the goal to help better understand the formation of quantum spin liquids – peculiar phases of matter that can emerge when conventional magnetic long-range order at low temperature is strongly suppressed. When magnetic order makes way for a quantum spin liquid, new types of quasi-particles can arise from collective degrees of freedom that are mediated by massive long-range entanglement. Such quasi-particles can have entirely different physical properties than the original constituents; they promise an avenue of fascinating research!

Having invested an extensive amount of time in the development of state-of-the-art scientific simulation software, it is important to Finn to ensure that the software can benefit a greater number of researchers in the community. He therefore has become passionate about making scientific software available as open-source code. His most noteworthy achievement in this respect is the publication of the “SpinParser” software. The software enables researchers to simulate quantum magnetism in a “plug-and-play” fashion, abstracting away most technicalities of the actual code implementation while still being optimized for running on some of the world’s largest supercomputers. You can find the “SpinParser” project and some of his other work on his GitHub profile.

Recently, Finn also became interested in exploring the possibilities of quantum computing. His current research is focused on the question of how we can exploit near-term quantum computing hardware to simulate the dynamics of quantum many-body systems. Finn is excited to work towards a future in which we can routinely harness the computational power of quantum devices to accelerate our understanding of fundamental science!

Outside of academia, Finn enjoys the water – whether it is by swimming, rowing, canoeing, or kayaking. You may also find him biking, doing yoga, or simply preparing a delicious meal – Finn likes to explore new dishes! Since arriving in Canada, he makes sure to set aside some of his spare time to travel and explore the beautiful nature that the country has to offer. He still has a long list of places that he would like to visit in Canada!