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Random science

Simulations every physicist should do. As well as some fun calculations related to my research in trapped-ion quantum simulators.

Geometric frustration is a topic close to my PhD research, so I've included some simple calculations for a square lattice.

In my graduate level quantum computing course, my final project was a white paper on randomized benchmarking and showing improvement when using a fault tolerant encoding. The project was based on a paper (see folder) with great instructions and details. Randomized benchmarking was just coming on the quantum scene making it a fun and timely project.

Classical Ising model simulation using a Metropolis-based Monte Carlo method. Did this for an undergraduate thermodynamics project. Besides the interesting physics going on, optimizing execution for faster computation speed (to get sharper phase transitions) was enjoyable.

Estimation of pi using random sampling. Imagine a cirlce enscribed in a square. As we randomly sample points in the square, the number of points in the circle divided by the total number of point will be proportional to pi and thus estimate pi. What made this project so enjoyable was how simple the setup is, yet it can determine pi to a surprising precision. It was also fun to explore ways to dramatically speed up the calculation. Pi Estimation