Arvid J. Bessen

110 Morningside Dr. #33, New York, NY 10027, (212)-518-8811

bessen@cs.columbia.edu, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~bessen

 

 

Education

·   Columbia University, New York, NY, 2003-present
Ph.D. student, Computer Science, expected graduation May 2007
Master of Philosophy, Computer Science, May 2005
Analyzed the solution of eigenvalue problems with a quantum computer
Researched the deterministic and Monte Carlo simulation of the Schrödinger equation

·   University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 1998-2003
Diplom Informatik (equivalent to a Master in Computer Science with thesis),
"summa cum laude", grade average 1.0 (best possible)
Thesis: “Quantum Computing in Various Black Box Models”

 

Honors

·   Presidential Fellowship, Columbia University, Sep 2003-Aug 2007
full tuition scholarship with stipend

·   sd&m stipend, sd&m AG (German software company), Jan 2000-Dec 2001
awarded for academic excellence in computer science

 

Experience and Projects

·   IBM T.J. Watson Research Lab, Yorktown Heights, New York
Visiting researcher, Jun 2006-Aug 2006 (full-time), Sep 2005-May 2006 (part-time)

o    Explored the computational power of stochastic quantum computing

o    Established criteria for convergence of Green’s function Monte Carlo simulation

·   Institute for Quantum Computing, Waterloo, Ontario
Visiting researcher, Jun 2005-Aug 2005
Investigated the asymptotic distribution of quantum random walks

·   University of Kaiserslautern
Research Assistant, Mar 2003–Jul 2003
Designed and implemented program to price Asian options with Monte Carlo and Quasi Monte Carlo methods on a graphical processing unit (GPU)

·   Columbia University and University of Kaiserslautern
Teaching Assistant, 1999-present
Taught classes, tutored students, designed and graded homework in Numerical Algorithms, Complexity theory, Quantum Computing, Theoretical Computer Science, Discrete Math

Technical Skills

·   Programming languages: C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Smalltalk, IDEs: Visual Studio, Emacs, Xcode

·   Mathematical software: Maple, Mathematica, Matlab, office software: Excel, PowerPoint, Word

·   Operating Systems: Windows, UNIX/Linux, Mac OS X

·   Expertise in: Object-oriented programming, parallel programming (MPI), Monte Carlo, numerical analysis and linear algebra, (partial) differential equations, stochastic calculus

·   Languages: fluent in English and German

 

Recent Publications

·   "Merlin-Arthur Games and Stoquastic Complexity", Sergey Bravyi, Arvid J. Bessen, Barbara M. Terhal, Nov 2006.

·   “Distributions of continuous-time quantum random walks”, Arvid J. Bessen, Sep 2006

·   “A Lower Bound for the Sturm-Liouville Eigenvalue Problem on a Quantum Computer”, Arvid J. Bessen, Journal of Complexity, Vol. 22(5), pp. 660-675, Oct 2006

·   “Lower bound for quantum phase estimation”, Arvid J. Bessen, Physical Review A, Vol. 71(4), pp. 042313, Apr 2005

·   “The power of real-valued quantum queries”, Arvid J. Bessen, Journal of Complexity, Vol. 20(5), pp. 699-712, Oct 2004

 

Leadership

·   Edited school newspaper, represented students in university committees, planned and organized freshman introduction

 

References available on request