Team | NonTrivial | Theory lab of Stefanos Kourtis

Training leading talent at the frontiers of quantum physics and computer science

Discover our group

Stefanos Kourtis

Associate Professor, Quantum Institute,
Université de Sherbrooke
Lead Researcher, Non Trivial
Victor Drouin-Touchette

Staff Researcher
Amélie Proulx

Administrator
Sangeeth Das Kallullathil

Postdoctoral Researcher
Benjamin Morrison

Postdoctoral Researcher
Ayana Sarkar

Postdoctoral Fellow
Muhammad Zubair

Postdoctoral Fellow
Aleksandr Berezutskii

PhD candidate
Julien Drapeau

PhD candidate
Joseph Gibson

PhD candidate
Jérémie Gince

PhD candidate
Martin Schnee

PhD candidate
Benjamin Lanthier

PhD student
Alexandre Leblanc

PhD student
Isaac Christ Domchi Kanga

Master's Student
Shuka Haddadi

Master's student

Victor Drouin-Touchette

Staff Researcher

Parcours académique

Postdoc in Quantum Computing at Rutgers University, supervised by Ananda Roy (2022-2023)
PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics at Rutgers University, supervised by Piers Coleman (2016-2022)
BSc in Mathematics and Physics at Université de Montréal (2013 – 2016)

Intérêts de recherche

Analog quantum computing and quantum simulation
Hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for optimization and operations research
Classical numerical methods for the simulation of quantum systems

Publications principales

Cédrick Perron, Yves Bérubé-Lauzière, and Victor Drouin-Touchette. "Leveraging Analog Neutral Atom Quantum Computers for Diversified Pricing in Hybrid Column Generation Frameworks." 2025. arXiv

Ayana Sarkar, Martin Schnee, Roya Radgohar, Mojde Fadaie, Victor Drouin-Touchette, and Stefanos Kourtis. "Concentration-Free Quantum Kernel Learning in the Rydberg Blockade." (2025). arXiv

Joseph Gibson, Victor Drouin-Touchette, and Stefanos Kourtis. "Quantum Counting in the Rydberg Blockade." (2025). arXiv

Prix et bourses

University and Bevier Dissertation Fellowship (Rutgers University, 2022)
Samuel Marateck Scholarship in Quantum Field Theory (Rutgers University, 2020)
Doctoral and Masters Scholarship (Fonds de recherche du Québec en Nature et Technologie)

À propos de moi

My goal is to help define what can be implemented and verified on today’s quantum computers, and to use that knowledge to inform the design of near-term algorithms. I believe that hybrid quantum-classical approaches to practical tasks will only start to match (or outperform) purely classical frameworks if we take close inspiration from state-of-the-art classical methods; this leads naturally to interdisciplinary research. I am particularly fond of analog quantum computing approaches and am keeping a keen eye on digital-analog quantum computing frameworks.

Benjamin Morrison

Postdoctoral Researcher

Parcours académique

PhD in Physics at University of New Mexico, supervised by Andrew J. Landahl (2017-2025)
MS in Physics at University of New Mexico, supervised by Andrew J. Landahl (2017-2019)
BA in Mathematics and Physics at Reed College, supervised by Adam Groce and Darrel Schroeter (2013-2017)

Intérêts de recherche

Quantum information, computation, and simulation; in particular, error correction, architectures, development tools, and algorithms.

Publications principales

Benjamin C. A. Morrison and Andrew J. Landahl. "Logical Majorana fermions for fault-tolerant quantum simulation," 2021. arXiv
A. E. Russo, K. M. Rudinger, B. C. A. Morrison, and A. D. Baczewski. "Evaluating energy differences on a quantum computer with robust phase estimation," Phys. Rev. Letters 126.21 (2021), 210501. DOI
B. C. A. Morrison, A. J. Landahl, D. S. Lobser, K. M. Rudinger, A. E. Russo, J. W. Van Der Wall, and P. Maunz. "Just Another Quantum Assembly Language (Jaqal)." 2020 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE) (pp. 402–408). DOI
Benjamin C. A. Morrison and Adam Groce. "Oracle separations between quantum and non-interactive zero-knowledge classes." Information Processing Letters 154 (2020): 105864. DOI

Prix et bourses

James Borders Student Physics Fellowship at Reed College, 2015.

À propos de moi

I take a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to quantum computing, designing tools to support future quantum information systems from low-level control to application-focused algorithms. I want to use this approach to enable the scientific community to make the best possible use of new quantum hardware as it becomes available. I also hope to hone my skills as a mentor and teacher, so I can help share the joy of quantum computing with a broader audience.

Ayana Sarkar

Postdoctoral Fellow

Parcours académique

Institut Quantique Postdoctoral Fellowship (May, 2023)
PhD in Physics from the Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi-NCR, India supervised by Prof. Santosh Kumar (deceased) (2017-April, 2023)
MSc (Physics) from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India supervised by Dr. Priyanka Maity (2015–2017)
BSc (Hons) Physics at University of Calcutta (2012–2015)

Intérêts de recherche

Quantum Machine Learning & Quantum Algorithms
Quantum Many-Body Physics, Quantum Chaos & Quantum Information
Random Matrix Theory

Publications principales

Jérémie Gince, Jean Michel Pagé, Marco Armenta, Ayana Sarkar and Stefanos Kourtis, "Fermionic Machine Learning", 2024. DOI arXiv
Ayana Sarkar, Martin Schnee, Roya Radgohar, Mojde Fadaie, Victor Drouin-Touchette, Stefanos Kourtis, “Concentration-Free Quantum Kernel Learning in the Rydberg Blockade” (under review). 2025. DOI arXiv

Prix et bourses

Kourtis Lab Microgrant (2025)
DST-INSPIRE Fellowship, National Fellowship from the Govt. Of India (2018-2023)
DST-INSPIRE Scholarship, National Scholarship from the Govt. Of India (2012-2017)
JBNSTS Scholarship (Jagadish Bose National Science Talent Search), West Bengal, India (2012)

À propos de moi

I am passionate about developing novel quantum algorithms, both in algorithm research and quantum machine learning, by leveraging insights from quantum many-body physics. I often draw on my background in quantum chaos and random matrix theory to study these systems in depth. My long-term goal is to apply hybrid knowledge of physics and quantum algorithms to address problems of broad societal importance. Alongside my research, I enjoy teaching and mentoring students, which I see as a deeply rewarding part of my work. Looking ahead, I also envision an entrepreneurial path, with the aspiration of founding a physics-driven artificial intelligence company.

Aleksandr Berezutskii

PhD candidate

Parcours académique

MSc in Physics and Mathematics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Skolkovo Institute of Physics and Technology, supervised by Prof. Jacob Biamonte (2017–2019)
BSc in Physics and Mathematics at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (2013–2017)

Intérêts de recherche

Tensor Networks
Quantum Error Correction

Publications principales

Aleksandr Berezutskii. "mdopt: A code-agnostic tensor-network decoder for quantum error-correcting codes.", 2025. DOI
Aleksandr Berezutskii, Minzhao Liu et al. "Tensor networks for quantum computing," 2025. DOI
Aleksandr Berezutskii, Ilia Luchnikov, Aleksey Fedorov. "Simulating quantum circuits using the multi-scale entanglement renormalization ansatz.", 2025. DOI
Alena Termanova, Artem Melnikov, Egor Mamenchikov, Nikita Belokonev, Sergey Dolgov, Aleksandr Berezutskii, Roman Ellerbrock, Christopher Mansell, Michael Perelshtein. "Tensor quantum programming.", 2024. DOI

Prix et bourses

Unitary Foundation — Microgrant Winner (mdopt, 2023)
QHack (IBM/Google challenge) — 2^nd/1^st place (2022)
Université de Sherbrooke — Exemption Scholarship for International Students (2020)

À propos de moi

I am interested in the interplay of quantum computing and modern classical computational methods, such as tensor networks, differentiable programming and machine learning. I use these techniques to solve hard problems. Open-source software enthusiast.

Martin Schnee

PhD candidate

Parcours académique

MSc in Quantum Physics at Université de Sherbrooke, supervised by Stefanos Kourtis (2020-2022)
BSc in Physics at Université de Sherbrooke (2019)

Intérêts de recherche

Quantum many-body dynamics
Rydberg-atom quantum simulators
Quantum scars
Entanglement growth
Tensor Network simulations
Quantum Kernel Learning

Publications principales

Ayana Sarkar, Martin Schnee, Roya Radgohar, Mojde Fadaie, Victor Drouin-Touchette, and Stefanos Kourtis. "Concentration-free kernel learning in the Rydberg blockade", 2025. arXiv
Martin Schnee, Roya Radgohar, and Stefanos Kourtis. "Unconventional early-time relaxation in the Rydberg chain", 2024. arXiv

Prix et bourses

À propos de moi

My research aims to understand better the phenomenon of quantum many-body scarring arising Rydberg-atom simulators, which defies the natural tendency of complex systems to thermalize. For example: Are there specific features of this phenomenon that are easy to access in today’s experiments? What is the structure of quantum correlations that is building up as this phenomenon unfolds? With this understanding, I am interested in exploring whether we can leverage this exotic phenomenon as a ressource for some quantum computation. For example: can we use it to build quantum kernel algorithms for data classification which do not lose their performance as the quantum computer size is increased (as was usually the case so far)? I investigate these questions mainly using numerical tools involving exact diagonalization and tensor network methods to simulate quantum dynamics.

Former members

Carrying the mission beyond the group

Shreya Banerjee, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jyoti Faujdar, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Roya Radgohar, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Tymoteusz Tula, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jeremy Côté, PhD

Graduate Student

Maxime Tremblay, PhD

Graduate Student

Nouédyn Baspin, MA

Graduate Student

Antoine Carrier, MA

Graduate Student

Omar Chikhar, MA

Graduate Student

Samuel Desrosiers, MA

Graduate Student

Join our group

As part of an experienced team, you will be able to choose projects that align with your interests in the field of quantum information science.

Studying within the group means securing a guaranteed scholarship, having the opportunity to undertake industry internships, and taking on teaching responsibilities only if desired. In addition, group members have the opportunity to participate in scientific activities, including international conferences.

Stefanos Kourtis

Victor Drouin-Touchette

Amélie Proulx

Sangeeth Das Kallullathil

Benjamin Morrison

Ayana Sarkar

Muhammad Zubair

Aleksandr Berezutskii

Julien Drapeau

Joseph Gibson

Jérémie Gince

Martin Schnee

Benjamin Lanthier

Alexandre Leblanc

Isaac Christ Domchi Kanga

Shuka Haddadi

Shreya Banerjee, PhD

Jyoti Faujdar, PhD

Roya Radgohar, PhD

Tymoteusz Tula, PhD

Jeremy Côté, PhD

Maxime Tremblay, PhD

Nouédyn Baspin, MA

Antoine Carrier, MA

Omar Chikhar, MA

Samuel Desrosiers, MA

Join our group