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 third-year 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.

Quantum Computing Logo Currently, I focus on building efficient and optimized compiler systems for end-to-end fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) systems and applications.

AI Agent Logo I am also interested in developing an agentic AI workflow based on the standards of automation, verifiability, and scalability to facilitate automated research and scientific discovery.

News 📢

[2026.05] I have started my internship as a W.J. Cody Associate at Argonne National Laboratory, working with Dr. Ji Liu.
[2026.04] I gave a talk about Strategies and tools to compile CV-DV quantum circuits at the CMSC858Y Quantum Computing Systems Seminar, University of Maryland.
[2026.03] One first-author paper(Leveraging Phase Polynomials for Quantum Circuit Optimization) has been accepted to ISCA'26! See you in Raleigh.
[2026.03] I gave a talk about Strategies and tools to compile CV-DV quantum circuits at ASPLOS'26 Hybrid Oscillator-Qubit Quantum Processors Tutorial. Our tutorial was featured on the SIGARCH Computer Architecture Today.
[2026.03] One poster paper(Rethinking Circuit Optimization in FTQC) has been accepted to HAIQ workshop at ASPLOS'26! 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'25! Check our poster here. See you in Albuquerque.
[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.
[2025.03] One first-author paper(Genesis) has been accepted to ISCA'25! 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 📚 ( / / )

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

Overview of the PhasePoly quantum circuit optimization framework

Leveraging Phase Polynomials for Quantum Circuit Optimization

Zihan Chen, Henry Chen, Yuwei Jin, Enhyeok Jang, Mingkuan Xu, Vannessa Chan, Won Woo Ro, Eddy Z. Zhang

[ISCA'26] [Software] [Slides] [QCE'25 Poster]

Overview of the Genesis compiler framework for hybrid CV-DV quantum computers

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'25] [Software] [Slides]

Overview of the Orbit-QAOA cyclic layerwise retraining and parameter freezing strategy

Layerwise retraining and freezing for multi-angle QAOA

Enhyeok Jang, Zihan Chen, Dongho Ha, Seungwoo Choi, Yongju Lee, Jaewon Kwon, Eddy Z. Zhang, Yipeng Huang, Won Woo Ro

[Quantum Machine Intelligence] [arXiv]

Talks and Presentations 🎤

[Presentation] Leveraging Phase Polynomials for Quantum Circuit Optimization

The 53rd International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA 2026), Raleigh, NC. Jul 1, 2026. [Slides]
[Talk] Strategies and tools to compile CV-DV quantum circuits.

CMSC 858Y: Quantum Computing Systems Seminar, University of Maryland. College Park, MD. Apr 29, 2026. [Slides]

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

[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 & Beyond Seminar

Weekly online seminar exploring the breadth of quantum computing, from error-correction theory and algorithms to software and applications. One-hour sessions feature a talk followed by Q&A. Browse the seminar overview for posters and the seminar schedule for upcoming sessions. Hosted 37 invited talks by 23 speakers from 12 different academic institutions, spanning backgrounds in computer science, electrical engineering, applied physics, and mathematics (as of Apr 2026).

Journal Reviewer:

ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing
IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems
Scientific Reports

Conference Reviewer:

QCE'25, '26
US-RSE'26
NetQSA'26

Artifact Evaluation Committee:

SOSP'25
MICRO'25, '26

Work Experience 💼

W.J. Cody Associate, Argonne National Laboratory

May 2026 - Aug 2026
Working with Dr. Ji Liu on highly efficient and optimized compilation for end-to-end fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC) pipelines.
Teaching Assistant, Rutgers University

Sep 2023 - May 2026
- 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)
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.

Interactive Projects 🧩

Puzzle Arena — Zip & Queens
Play logic puzzles, replay solver decisions, and compare heuristic methods at a human action pace. Explore methods evolved with Codex, with English and Chinese interfaces.