SIUC Physics Seminar
School of Physics and Applied Physics, Southern Illinois University--Carbondale


2024 November 15 Friday 4:00 PM:
Physics Seminar in Neckers 440

Title: Close to Home: How studying quantum cryptography brought me around the world and back
Speaker: Sarah M. Hagen
Affiliation: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign



Abstract: In this talk, I will discuss my graduate school research on quantum cryptographic primitives, foundational "building block" protocols that enable secure communication and computation. In particular, I will give some background on a couple of primitives, including oblivious transfer and the newer zero-communication reduction. I will show how to build non-classical versions of these and present our results. I want to frame this research in the context of the career path of a former SIU undergraduate student. I hope to share some perspective on what is possible with a physics degree and some valuable advice for current students.


Biography: Sarah Hagen is a 4th year Physics PhD candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she works in the group of Eric Chitambar on topics in quantum cryptography. She also works as a writer for the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST) at Illinois. Sarah completed undergraduate degrees in Physics and French at Southern Illinois University from 2017-2021. At SIU, she conducted undergraduate research in the quantum information group of Mark Byrd, as well as part of a year-long materials science project while studying abroad in Lyon, France. When she has the time, Sarah writes about grad school and other topics on her website https://hageninter.net.

Links:
Dept. of Physics, UIUC
CSL
IQUIST




Last updated on by K V Shajesh (kvshajesh@gmail.com).