Zhaoyi Li

Zhaoyi Li

PhD Candidate, MIT · Cited by 93

Hello! I'm Zhaoyi Li, courtesy name Nitan, a PhD candidate at MIT working in theoretical and mathematical physics, with an interest in the structure and dynamics of complex systems.

Bio

I graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Mathematics and a BSH in Physics, and am now pursuing a PhD at MIT (GPA: 5.0/5.0) in the Quanta Group under Prof. Isaac Chuang. I am also part of IAIFI.

My research explores theoretical frameworks connecting information and collective behavior in physical systems, with tools drawn from representation theory and statistical physics. See my publications for the full list. You can also find me on Google Scholar and ORCID.

For more in-depth reflections and discussions, the Qōan Blog features thoughts on topics such as mathematical physics, algorithms, and personal projects.

Talks

TQC 2025 · Best Student Paper Award 🏆
Quantum Purity Amplification: Optimality and Efficient Algorithm

Recent talks

Publications

  • An Exponential Sample-Complexity Advantage for Coherent Quantum Inference
    Zhaoyi Li, Elias Theil, Aram W. Harrow, Isaac Chuang
    arXiv
    2026 | Preprint
    DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2605.21457
  • Quantum Purity Amplification for Arbitrary Eigenstates and Multiple Outputs
    Zhaoyi Li, Elias Theil, Aram W. Harrow, Isaac Chuang
    arXiv
    2026 | Preprint
    DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2605.21570
  • Sub-Doppler Cooling of a Trapped Ion in a Phase-Stable Polarization Gradient
    Ethan Clements, Felix W. Knollmann, Sabrina Corsetti, Zhaoyi Li et al.
    Physical Review Letters 136, 023201 (2026)
    2026-01-15 | Journal article
    DOI: 10.1103/FY3T-F1HZ
  • Optimal Quantum Purity Amplification
    Zhaoyi Li, Honghao Fu, Takuya Isogawa, Isaac Chuang
    arXiv
    2024-09-26 | Preprint
    DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2409.18167
    Report Number: MIT-CTP/5775
    Accepted to TQC 2025 | Best Student Paper Award 🏆
    QPA Publication Preview
  • Scaling-optimal purification of noisy qubit unitary channels
    Ryotaro Niwa, Satoshi Yoshida, Koki Ono, Takeru Utsumi, Zhaoyi Li et al.
    arXiv
    2026-06-10 | Preprint
    DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2606.12394
  • Far-from-equilibrium universality in two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnets
    Zhaoyi Li, Paolo Glorioso, Joaquin Rodriguez-Nieva
    Physical Review B
    2023-10-10 | Journal article
    DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.108.144303
    Part of ISSN: 2469-9950, 2469-9969
  • Concatenation Schemes for Topological Fault-tolerant Quantum Error Correction
    Zhaoyi Li, Isaac Kim, Patrick Hayden
    Quantum
    2023-08-22 | Journal article
    DOI: 10.22331/q-2023-08-22-1089
    Part of ISSN: 2521-327X
    • Layout of the concatenated Raussendorf lattics The Qōan Blog
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