Thomas Wong, PhD

Associate Professor

Physics

T Wong

Contact

College of Arts and Sciences
Graduate School
Medical Physics (Master of Science)
Physics (Master of Science)
Physics
HLSB - Hixson Lied Science Building - G66

Thomas Wong, PhD

Associate Professor

Physics

Dr. Tom Wong is an American physicist and computer scientist who investigates quantum algorithms, and he is best known for researching how quantum computers search for information in databases and networks. Tom is currently an associate professor of physics at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He is also a Consultant with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) National Quantum Coordination Office (NQCO), after serving for nearly two years there as the Quantum Liaison, on detail from the Department of Energy.

Tom is the author of the textbook, Introduction to Classical and Quantum Computing, whose only prerequisite is trigonometry. He is also the creator of Qubit Touchdown, a board game that teaches single-qubit gates with an American football theme. Tom is a former high school teacher; before graduate school, he was a math teacher at an inner-city high school.

Prior to joining Creighton, Tom was a postdoctoral researcher in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin under Dr. Scott Aaronson. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher in computer science at the University of Latvia under Dr. Andris Ambainis. Tom earned a PhD in theoretical physics from UC San Diego under Dr. David Meyer, and his dissertation was selected as the best thesis in the Division of Physical Sciences. Tom graduated from Santa Clara University, triple majoring in physics, computer science, and mathematics while minoring in urban education.

While in graduate school, Tom designed, built, and programmed a photo booth, which he turned into a successful business. While in undergrad, Tom interned for IBM for two years, where he created a system to manage test software for enterprise disk storage systems.

As an Eagle Scout, Tom enjoys backpacking and the outdoors. He also plays guitar, renovates homes, and enjoys open source software. He also serves on the editorial board of Quantum Information Processing, a quantum computing journal published by Springer Nature.

Research Focus

Quantum computing

Department

Physics

Position

Associate Professor

Publications

  • Physical review. A
    DalFavero Benjamin, Constant-time quantum search with a many-body quantum system
    110:5 2024
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Herrman Rebekah, Simplifying continuous-time quantum walks on dynamic graphs
    21:2 2022
  • Quantum Information and Computation
    Wong Thomas G., UNSTRUCTURED SEARCH BY RANDOM AND QUANTUM WALK
    22:1-2, p. 53 - 85 2022
  • Physical Review A
    Rapoza Jacob, Search by lackadaisical quantum walk with symmetry breaking
    104:6 2021
  • Physical Review A
    Wong Thomas G., Equivalent Laplacian and adjacency quantum walks on irregular graphs
    104:4 2021
  • Physical Review A
    Adisa Ibukunoluwa A., Implementing quantum gates using length-3 dynamic quantum walks
    104:4 2021
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Rhodes Mason L., Search on vertex-transitive graphs by lackadaisical quantum walk
    19:9 2020
  • Physical Review A
    Wong Thomas G., Isolated vertices in continuous-time quantum walks on dynamic graphs
    100:6 2019
  • Physical Review A
    Rhodes Mason L., Search by lackadaisical quantum walks with nonhomogeneous weights
    100:4 2019
  • Physical Review A
    Rhodes Mason L., Quantum walk search on the complete bipartite graph
    99:3 2019
  • Physical Review A
    Glos Adam, Optimal quantum-walk search on Kronecker graphs with dominant or fixed regular initiators
    98:6 2018
  • Physical Review A
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum walk search on Kronecker graphs
    98:1 2018
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Faster search by lackadaisical quantum walk
    17:3 2018
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Wong Thomas G., Coined quantum walks on weighted graphs
    50:47 2017
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Exceptional quantum walk search on the cycle
    16:6 2017
  • Physical Review A
    Ambainis Andris, Oscillatory localization of quantum walks analyzed by classical electric circuits
    94:6 2016
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum walk search through potential barriers
    49:48 2016
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Prusis Krišjanis, Doubling the success of quantum walk search using internal-state measurements
    49:45 2016
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Laplacian versus adjacency matrix in quantum walk search
    15:10, p. 4029 - 4048 2016
  • Physical Review A
    Prusis Krišjanis, Stationary states in quantum walk search
    94:3 2016
  • Physical Review A
    Wong Thomas G., Engineering the success of quantum walk search using weighted graphs
    94:2 2016
  • Physical Review A
    Wong Thomas G., Irreconcilable difference between quantum walks and adiabatic quantum computing
    93:6 2016
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum walk search on Johnson graphs
    49:19 2016
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Spatial search by continuous-time quantum walk with multiple marked vertices
    15:4, p. 1411 - 1443 2016
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum walk on the line through potential barriers
    15:2, p. 675 - 688 2016
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Wong Thomas G., Grover search with lackadaisical quantum walks
    48:43 2015
  • Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
    Wong Thomas G., Faster quantum walk search on a weighted graph
    92:3 2015
  • Quantum Information and Computation
    Ambainis Andris, Correcting for potential barriers in quantum walk search
    15:15-16, p. 1365 - 1372 2015
  • Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum walk search with time-reversal symmetry breaking
    48:40 2015
  • Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
    Wong Thomas G., Quantum search with multiple walk steps per oracle query
    92:2 2015
  • Quantum Information Processing
    Wong Thomas G., Diagrammatic approach to quantum search
    14:6, p. 1767 - 1775 2015
  • Physical Review Letters
    Meyer David A., Connectivity is a poor indicator of fast quantum search
    114:11 2015
  • Physical Review Letters
    Janmark Jonatan, Global symmetry is unnecessary for fast quantum search
    112:21 2014
  • Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
    Meyer David A., Quantum search with general nonlinearities
    89:1 2014
  • New Journal of Physics
    Meyer David A., Nonlinear quantum search using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation
    15 2013
  • Applied Mathematical Finance
    Ostrov Daniel N., Optimal asset allocation for passive investing with capital loss harvesting
    18:4, p. 291 - 329 2011
  • European Journal of Physics
    Wong T. G., Treatment of ion-atom collisions using a partial-wave expansion of the projectilewavefunction
    30:3, p. 447 - 452 2009