People.BrandonU.Ca » Sarah Plosker » Research

Research

Research Interests: Quantum information theory, operator theory, linear algebra, and matrix analysis, with current focus on positive operator valued measures (POVMs), quantum state transfer in graphs, majorization and trumping, and measures of quantum coherence.

My research is funded through the Canada Research Chairs program, a Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) grant, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program.

Prospective Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP): At this time, Brandon University does not offer graduate studies in mathematics or a related discipline. However, my adjunct status at the University of Regina, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Guelph allows me to co-supervise M.Sc. and Ph.D. students as well as postdocs at any of the three institutions. I am actively involved with research at these institutions under the broad umbrella of matrix analysis and operator theory with applications to quantum information theory. If you are interested and have some background in these topics, please contact me for more information.  If you are an undergraduate student looking for research opportunities, you may wish to consider an NSERC USRA, which allows you to gain experience in research in mathematics over the summer (see me for more details).

Current Highly Qualified Personnel:

  • Hermie Monterde, Ph.D. student, University of Manitoba (co-supervision with Steve Kirkland, Fall 2021 — present

Completed Highly Qualified Personnel:

  • Juliana Hiebert, NSERC USRA, Summer 2023
  • Kayleigh Tanner, (co-supervised with Gautam Srivastava), Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) Community Engagement project, 2023
  • Shirin Moein, Postdoctoral Fellow, Mount Allison University (co-supervision with Rajesh Pereira and Nathaniel Johnston), Winter 2021 — Winter 2023
  • Avner Sadikov, M.Sc. student, University of Regina (co-supervision with Remus Floricel), Fall 2021 –Summer 2023
  • Michael Chesterton, M.Sc. student, University of Regina (co-supervision with Remus Floricel), Fall 2021 — Summer 2023
  • Emeka Ezeh, Master’s in Development Practice (MDP), field placement, University of Winnipeg (co-supervision with Gautam Srivastava), Summer 2022
  • Alexis Cing-Mars, (co-supervised with Gautam Srivastava), CIRA Community Engagement project, 2022
  • Kendra Simpson, (co-supervised with Gautam Srivastava), CIRA Community Engagement project, 2022
  • Saniya Minase, Undergraduate Research Student, Fall 2021-Winter 2021
  • Hermie Monterde, M.Sc. student, University of Manitoba (co-supervision with Steve Kirkland, Fall 2019 — Summer 2021
  • Oluwatobi Ruth Ojo, M.Sc. student, University of Regina (co-supervision with Doug Farenick), Fall 2019 — Summer 2021
  • Julius Adili Masanika, M.Sc. student, University of Regina (co-supervision with Doug Farenick), Winter 2019 – Summer 2020
  • Darian McLaren, Research Assistant, Summer 2019-Summer 2020; NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA), Summer 2018; Honours Topics student in Mathematics, Fall 2017; NSERC USRA, Summer 2017
  • Xiaohong Zhang, Ph.D. student, University of Manitoba (co-supervision with Steve Kirkland), Fall 2014 – Summer 2019
  • Farrah Huntinghawk, NSERC USRA, Summer 2020; NSERC USRA, Summer 2019; Brandon University Students’ Union Work Study Program, Fall 2016 – Winter 2017
  • Shirin Moein, visiting PhD student from Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran (with Rajesh Pereira), University of Guelph, Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
  • Chris Ramsey, Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandon University, Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
  • Rebecca Storey, NSERC USRA, Summer 2016
  • Bailey Kacsmar, Honours Topics student in Computer Science, Fall 2015
  • Ryan Bergen, NSERC USRA, Summer 2015
  • Whitney Gordon, NSERC USRA, Summer 2015
  • Amie Teetaert, Honours Topics student in Mathematics, Fall 2014
  • Jin Li, Honours Topics student in Mathematics, Fall 2014
  • Jarrad Perron, Brandon University Research Committee (BURC) grant, Summer 2014

Journal Articles:
(An asterisk is used to identify students and postdoctoral fellows who are co-authors and were under my supervision.)

[33] N. Johnston, S. Moein*, R. Pereira, and S. Plosker, Absolutely k-Incoherent Quantum States and Spectral Inequalities for Factor Width of a Matrix, Physical Review A, 106, 052417, 2022. arxiv

[32] N. Johnston, S. Moein*, R. Pereira, and S. Plosker, Birkhoff–James Orthogonality in the Trace Norm, with Applications to Quantum Resource Theories, Electronic Journal of Linear Algebra, 38, pp. 760-776 2022. arxiv

[31] L. Cao, D.~McLaren*, S. Plosker, The Complete Positivity of Symmetric Tridiagonal and Pentadiagonal  Matrices, Special Matrices, 11 (1), 2022. arxiv

[30] S. Plosker and C. Ramsey*. Bistochastic operators and quantum random variables, New York Journal of Mathematics, 28, pp. 580-609, 2022. arxiv

[29] D. Farenick, O. Ojo*, and S. Plosker, Universality of Weyl Unitaries, Linear Algebra and its Applications, 634, pp. 57-76, 2022. arxiv

[28] D. Farenick, F. Huntinghawk*, A. Masanika*, and S. Plosker, Complete order equivalence of spin unitaries, Linear Algebra and its Applications, 610, pp. 1-28, 2020. arxiv

[27] A. Chan, S. Fallat, J.C.-H. Lin, S. Kirkland, S. Nasserasr, and S. Plosker. Complex Hadamard diagonalisable graphs, Linear Algebra and its Applications, 605, pp. 158-179, 2020. arxiv

[26] P. Ganesan, L. Gao, S. Pandey, and S. Plosker, Quantum majorization on semifinite von Neumann algebras, Journal of Functional Analysis, 108650, 2020. arxiv

[25] L. Cao, D. McLaren*, and S. Plosker, Centrosymmetric stochastic matrices, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, pp. 1-16 2020. arxiv

[24] D. McLaren*, S. Plosker, and C. Ramsey*. On Operator Valued Measures, Houston Journal of Mathematics, 46(1), pp. 201-226, 2020. arxiv

[23] M. Adm, S. Fallat, K. Meagher, S. Nasserasr, S. Plosker, and B. Yang. Achievable multiplicity partitions in the inverse eigenvalue problem of a graph, Special Matrices (special issue dedicated to Charlie Johnson), 7, pp. 276-290, 2019. arxiv

[22] S. Kirkland, S. Plosker, and X. Zhang*. Switching and partially switching the hypercube while maintaining perfect state transfer, Quantum Information and Computation, 19, no. 7 & 8, pp. 0541-0554, 2019. arxiv

[21] S. Moein*, R. Pereira, and S. Plosker. A simplified and unified generalization of some majorization results, Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 478, pp. 1049-1058, 2019. arxiv

[20] S. Plosker and C. Ramsey*. An operator-valued Lyapunov theorem, Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 469, pp. 117-125, 2019. arxiv

[19] S.J. Harris, R.H. Levene, V.I. Paulsen, S. Plosker, M. Rahaman. Schur multipliers and mixed unitary maps, Journal of Mathematical Physics, 59, 112201 (2018).

[18] S. Kirkland, D. McLaren*, R. Pereira, S. Plosker, and X. Zhang*. Perfect quantum state transfer in weighted paths with potentials (loops) using orthogonal polynomials, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, pp. 1-19, 2018. arxiv

[17] N. Johnston, C.-K. Li, S. Plosker, Y.T. Poon, and B. Regula. Evaluating the robustness of k-coherence and k-entanglement, Physical Review A, 98, 022328, 2018. arxiv

[16] N. Johnston, C.-K. Li, and S. Plosker. The modified trace distance of coherence is constant on most pure states, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 51, 414010, 2018. arxiv

[15] N. Johnston, S. Kirkland, S. Plosker, R. Storey*, and X. Zhang*. Perfect quantum state transfer using Hadamard diagonalizable weighted graphs. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 531, pp. 375-398, 2017. arxiv

[14] J. Chen, S. Grogan, N. Johnston, C.-K. Li, and S. Plosker. Quantifying the coherence of pure quantum states. Physical Review A, 94, 042313, 2016. arxiv

[13] W. Gordon*, S. Kirkland, C.-K, Li, S. Plosker, and X. Zhang*. Bounds on probability of state transfer with respect to readout time and edge weight. Physical Review A, 93, 022309, 2016. arxiv

[12] D. Farenick, M.J. Kozdron, and S. Plosker. Spectra and variance of quantum random variables. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 434, pp. 1106-1122, 2016. arxiv

[11] M. E. Carrington, G. Kunstatter, J. Perron*, and S. Plosker. On the geometric measure of entanglement for pure states. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 48, 435302, 2015. arxiv

[10] J. Li*, R. Pereira and S. Plosker. Some geometric interpretations of quantum fidelity. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 487, pp. 158-171, 2015. arxiv

[9] R. Pereira and S. Plosker. Extending a characterization of majorization to infinite dimensions. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 468, pp. 80-86, 2015. arxiv

[8] T. Jochym-O’Connor, D. W. Kribs, R. Laflamme, and S. Plosker. Quantum subsystems: Exploring the complementarity of quantum privacy and error correction. Physical Review A, 90, 032305, 2014. arxiv

[7] D. W. Kribs and S. Plosker. Private quantum codes: introduction and connection with higher rank numerical ranges. Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 62, pp. 639-647, 2014. arxiv

[6] D. W. Kribs, R. Pereira, and S. Plosker. Trumping and power majorization. Linear and Multilinear Algebra, 61, pp. 1455-1463, 2013. arxiv

[5] T. Jochym-O’Connor, D. W. Kribs, R. Laflamme, and S. Plosker. Private quantum subsystems. Physical Review Letters, 111, 030502, 2013. arxiv

[4] R. Pereira and S. Plosker. Dirichlet polynomials, majorization, and trumping. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 46, 225302, 2013. arxiv

[3] D. Farenick, R. Floricel, and S. Plosker. Approximately clean quantum probability measures. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 54, Issue 5, 052201,  2013. arxiv

[2] D. Farenick, S. Plosker, and J. Smith. Classical and nonclassical randomness in quantum measurements. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 52, Issue 12, 122204, 2011. arxiv

[1] A. Church, D. W. Kribs, R. Pereira, and S. Plosker. Private quantum channels, conditional expectations, and trace vectors. Quantum Information & Computation (QIC), 11, no. 9 & 10, pp. 774 – 783, 2011. arxiv

Refereed Conference Proceedings:

[2] F. Huntinghawk*, C. Richard*, S. Plosker, and G. Srivastava. Expanding Cybersecurity Knowledge Through an Indigenous Lens: A First Look, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Canadian Conference of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IEEE CCECE 2020).

[1] B. Kacsmar*, S. Plosker, and R. Henry, Computing Low-Weight Discrete Logarithms, the 24th Annual Conference on Selected Areas in Cryptography (SAC 2017). In International Conference on Selected Areas in Cryptography, pp. 106-126. Springer, Cham. eprint