Yifan (Frank) Zhang - Princeton University

I am a theorist broadly interested in quantum information science and artificial intelligence. In recent years I have worked on problems in quantum computing and sensing, many-body physics, quantum complexity, and classical algorithms for simulating quantum systems. Along the way, I have developed intuitions that are not really “quantum,” and these ideas have led to unexpected insights into the behavior of modern AI systems.

I was first doing my undergraduate at the Cooper Union (2018-2019) and then Cornell University (2019-2022), where I was mostly thinking about semiconductor devices and solid-state physics. Then I moved to Princeton ECE for my PhD (2022-current), where I turned to the dark side and started to work on theory.

Research Interests

I am currently thinking about the following themes:

Towards fault tolerance: Develop theory and practical methods that push us closer to fault-tolerant quantum computation. This includes decoders for quantum error-correcting codes and the structure of quantum “magic.”

“Genuine” quantum behavior: Identify when quantum phenomena—physical or computational—appear in ways that cannot be reproduced by classical systems. When they can be reproduced, understand the mechanisms that make classical simulation possible.

Physics of AI: Understand how physical notions such as locality, correlations, and phases emerge naturally from data, models, and training dynamics, and how to use these structures in modern generative AI.

Fun Facts

1. My favorite marine animal is the sea otter. Sometimes people confuse it with the river otter. In one-line, here is how you can tell them apart:

River otter: ( • ω • ) Sea otter: (• ♠ •)

2. There is another “Yifan Zhang” from Princeton ECE. This is NOT me; we have an unfortunate degeneracy. There is also one more Yifan Zhang from Princeton molecular biology. Let’s see how much degeneracy we can get... Identify me by looking for "Frank" or "Yifan F. Zhang".