Ashley Montanaro's homepage

I am Professor of Quantum Computation in the School of Mathematics at the University of Bristol, and also co-founder of the quantum software startup Phasecraft, where I spend most of my time. I'm a member of the Quantum Information Theory research group. This webpage is unlikely to be up to date.

Research interests

"It is difficult to give an idea of the vast extent of modern mathematics. This word 'extent' is not the right one: I mean extent crowded with beautiful detail - not an extent of mere uniformity such as an objectless plain, but of a tract of beautiful country seen at first in the distance, but which will bear to be rambled through and studied in every detail of hillside and valley, stream, rock, wood and flower. But, as for everything else, so for a mathematical theory - beauty can be perceived but not explained."
— Arthur Cayley¹ (1883)

My main research interests are in the theory of quantum computing. I'm interested in all areas of the subject, but particularly quantum algorithms and computational complexity, as well as quantum query and communication complexity. I'm also interested in classical algorithms and computational complexity.

Click here for details of my publications, preprints and presentations.

Teaching

Previous teaching:

Spring 2020: Quantum Computation (MATHM0023). Previous years: 2019, 2018, 2017
Spring 2016: Advanced Quantum Information Theory
Spring 2015: Advanced Quantum Information Theory
Spring 2014: Theory of Computation (COMS11700)
Autumn 2013: Data Structures and Algorithms (COMS21103)

Some older teaching materials:

Guest lecture on the history of quantum computing for Origins of Computer Science (November 2015)
Computational Complexity lecture notes and exercises (Part III, Cambridge, Michaelmas 2012)
Quantum Computation lecture notes (v1.11) and exercises (v1.1); also slides about quantum walks (Part III, Michaelmas 2011)
Computational complexity (for BCCS: Computational modelling of complex systems, June 2010)
Counting perfect matchings in planar graphs (guest lecture, Advanced Algorithms, December 2009)
Metric embeddings (guest lecture, Advanced Algorithms, December 2008)

PhD students

Josh Blake (2024-)
Jorja Kirk (2024-)
Sheila Perez Garcia (UCL, 2023-)
Sami Boulebnane (UCL, 2020-2024)
Jan Lukas Bosse (2020-2024)
Lana Mineh (2018-2022)
Joao F. Doriguello (2017-2020)
Chris Cade (2015-2019)
Sam Pallister (with Noah Linden, 2015-2018)
Stephen Piddock (2014-2018)

Some affiliations

QIP steering committee, 2016-2018
Quantum journal editor until 2019
ITCS 2018 programme committee member
Heilbronn Quantum Algorithms Meeting co-organiser (2017, 2016, 2015)
AQIS 2017 and AQIS 2015 programme committee member
QIP 2015 programme committee member
Fields Institute Conference on Quantum Groups and Quantum Information Theory, Herstmonceux, 2015
Banff workshop on Hypercontractivity and Log Sobolev Inequalities in Quantum Information Theory, 2015
Newton Institute workshop on New Mathematical Directions for Quantum Information, 2013
TQC 2014 and TQC 2013 programme committee member
Bristol Summer School on Probabilistic Techniques in Computer Science

Contact

The best way to contact me is by email: (my first name).(my last name) at bristol.ac.uk. Otherwise, my postal address is

Ashley Montanaro
School of Mathematics
University of Bristol
Fry Building
Woodland Road
BRISTOL
BS8 1UG
UK

Office: 2A.13. Telephone: +44 (0)117 428 4990.

¹ My academic great-great-great-grandfather.