Colloquium Series

Spring 2026

Our Colloquium talks typically occur Wednesday afternoon at 3:45-4:45 PM, although there are occasionally special days and times. 

• Apr

  14
• Professor James G. Scott

  University of Texas at Austin

  Time: 03:45 PM

• Mar

  25
• Quantum Computing for Operations Research

  Dr. Reuben Tate

  Los Alamos National Laboratory

  Time: 03:45 PM

  View Abstract

  This talk provides a high-level overview of how quantum computing may be used to address a range of combinatorial optimization problems, including problems of interest in Operations Research (OR). We focus in particular on the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), a variational quantum algorithm introduced by Farhi et al. in 2014, which offers a general framework for finding approximate solutions to such problems. The talk begins with a gentle introduction to the basic ideas of quantum computing, followed by an intuitive, high-level description of how QAOA works. We then survey key experimental and theoretical results to date, highlighting both current capabilities and limitations. Finally, we discuss recent work along our own line of research that draws on classical OR and optimization techniques–such as warm-start strategies–to improve the performance of QAOA.