Game night with my family
📍Piscataway, New Jersey

Zihan Chen 陈子涵 /ziːˈhɑːn/ ; /tʃɛn/

Email: zihan.chen.cs [at] rutgers [dot] edu

Office: CoRE 632, 96 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854

I am a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Rutgers Logo Rutgers University, advised by Prof. Eddy Z. Zhang. I have obtained my M.Sc. in Computer Science from Rutgers University, and my B.E. in Telecommunication Engineering from nuist Logo Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology (Changwang School of Honors), through a joint program with ucas Logo University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

[Google Scholar] [LinkedIn] [Github] [Curriculum Vitae (11/04/2025)]

Research Interest 💡

My research interests broadly span Computer Systems topics such as Computer Architecture, Compilers and High-Performance Computing.

Currently, I focus on Quantum Computing Logo Quantum Computing—specifically quantum computer architecture and applications. I am particularly interested in leveraging techniques from classical architecture, compiler design, and machine learning to improve the programmability, fault tolerance, and scalability of current quantum computers.

I am interested in potential research collaboration or internship opportunities. If you have any questions about my work or potential cooperation, please feel free to reach out.

News 📢

  • [2026.03] One first-author paper(Leveraging Phase Polynomials for Quantum Circuit Optimization) has been accepted to ISCA'2026! See you in Raleigh.
  • [2026.03] I gave a talk about Strategies and tools to compile CV-DV quantum circuits at ASPLOS'2026 Hybrid Oscillator-Qubit Quantum Processors Tutorial.
  • [2026.03] One poster paper(Rethinking Circuit Optimization in FTQC) has been accepted to HAIQ workshop at ASPLOS'2026! Check our poster here. See you in Pittsburgh.
  • [2026.01] One paper Layerwise Retraining and Freezing for Multi-Angle QAOA has been accepted to Quantum Machine Intelligence, congrats to Enhyeok!
  • [2025.08] I was awarded the Q-CORE@QCE'25 Travel Grant, thanks to StableQ and DCHCQCS!
  • [2025.07] One poster paper(PhasePoly) has been accepted to QCE'2025! Check our poster (QSYS::1319) here. See you in Albuquerque.
  • [2025.07] We proposed PhasePoly, a compilation optimization framework for quantum circuits.
  • [2025.06] I will organize and host Rutgers QEC: Theory and Systems Reading Group.
  • [2025.05] I gave a talk about Compiler framework on hybrid CV-DV quantum computers for Hamiltonian simulation at North Carolina State University CV-DV Group Meeting.
  • [2025.05] We released Genesis v1.0.0, a compiler framework for Hamiltonian simulation targeting hybrid continuous-variable (CV) and discrete-variable (DV) quantum systems.
  • [2025.03] One first-author paper(Genesis) has been accepted to ISCA'2025! See you in Tokyo.
  • [2024.06] I started my Research Assistant role at Rutgers University on Quantum Computing, advised by Professor Eddy Z. Zhang.
  • [2024.02] I will enroll as a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Rutgers University starting 2024 Fall.

Publications 📚 ( show selected / show all by date / show all by topic )

Topics: QC Programmability / Circuit Optimization / (*/†: indicates equal contribution.)

Genesis: A Compiler Framework for Hamiltonian Simulation on Hybrid CV-DV Quantum Computers
Zihan Chen*, Jiakang Li*, Minghao Guo*, Henry Chen, Zirui Li, Joel Bierman, Yipeng Huang, Huiyang Zhou, Yuan Liu, Eddy Z. Zhang

[ISCA'2025] [Software] [Slides]

PhasePoly: An Optimization Framework for Phase Polynomials in Quantum Circuits
Zihan Chen, Henry Chen, Yuwei Jin, Minghao Guo, Enhyeok Jang, Jiakang Li, Caitlin Chan, Won Woo Ro, Eddy Z. Zhang

[QCE'25 Poster] [Arxiv]

Talks and Presentations 🎤

  • [Talk] Strategies and tools to compile CV-DV quantum circuits.

    Hybrid Oscillator-Qubit Quantum Processors — Instruction Set Architecture, Abstract Machine Models, and Applications. ASPLOS'2026 Tutorial. Pittsburgh, PA. Mar 22, 2026. [Slides]

  • [Talk] Compiler framework on hybrid CV-DV quantum computers for Hamiltonian simulation.

    North Carolina State University CV-DV Group Meeting. Remote, May 21, 2025. [Slides]

Academic Service 🧾

Organizer of Rutgers QEC: Theory and Systems Reading Group

Weekly reading group on tutorial and papers related to Quantum Error Correction (QEC). Topics span from theoretical QEC, quantum compiler design optimized for QEC, to AI-driven approaches for QEC. There will be one presenter each week, followed by group discussion and Q&A. Hosted 33 invited talks by 20 speakers from 10 different academic institutions (as of Mar 2026). Join us!

Journal Reviewer:
  • ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing
Technical Papers Program Committee:
  • QCE@25
Artifact Evaluation Committee:
  • SOSP@25
  • MICRO@25

Work Experience 💼

  • Software Engineer Intern, CARINA AI

    May 2023 - May 2024
    Developed a radiology AI solution and integrated Large Language Models (LLM) into healthcare applications. These products are now deployed in leading hospitals and research institutions globally, with some commercially available and others still in the experimental phase.

  • Teaching Assistant, Rutgers University

    Sep 2023 - Present

    • CS336: Principles of Information and Data Management (6 times)
    • ECE568: Software Engineering of Web Applications (1 time)
    • ECE518: Mobile Embedded Systems and On-Device AI (1 time)