2026 Internship Project: Quantum Simulation at Rigetti

Team: Benchmarking & App Engineering

Rigetti Computing is building the world’s most powerful computers to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. We believe this technology will fundamentally change the world for the better and will affect nearly every industry over the coming decades. Rigetti Computing is leading this change by developing and demonstrating quantum computing applications in quantum optimization, quantum machine learning, and quantum simulation.

About the internship

As an intern, you will work alongside quantum researchers to develop and implement a quantum many-body simulation aimed at solving classically intractable problems and answering fundamental questions about quantum system dynamics. In the context of contemporary noisy quantum computers, you will co-design experiments specifically tailored to extract maximum performance from Rigetti's hardware. Using numerical simulation tools, you will define the crossover regime where classical emulation falters as problem size increases, but experimental quantum performance is challenged by noise. You will execute experiments on Rigetti's QPUs and benchmark the results against defined targets to help identify the threshold for quantum advantage. This role offers a unique opportunity to conduct high-impact research in an industrial R&D environment, working on a cross-functional project that involves Applications and Quantum Engineering staff.

The internship should last a minimum of 3 months over the summer of 2026, with flexible start and end dates. Although the mentors will be remote, there is flexibility to work remotely or in Rigetti’s office in Berkeley, CA.

Key Qualifications

Advanced Ph.D. Candidate: Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, quantum information science, or a related field, with a focus on quantum many-body systems.

Quantum Many-Body Expertise: Strong theoretical foundation in quantum many-body systems and quantum dynamics.

Numerical Simulation Proficiency: Proven experience using classical numerical methods to simulate quantum systems such as tensor networks or related techniques.

Analytical Rigor and Technical Communication: A highly motivated self-starter with the critical thinking skills to analyze and interpret results, and the communication skills to distill complex findings for cross-functional teams.

Nice to Haves

Quantum Computing Domain Knowledge: Broader experience in quantum computing, particularly in translating many-body physics problems into gate-based implementations.

Quantum Hardware Experience: Hands-on experience designing and executing experiments on quantum hardware, including familiarity with quantum error mitigation or suppression.

Collaborative Research: Experience working in cross-team environments including theorists and experimentalists to achieve research milestones.

Scientific Impact: A demonstrated publication record in many-body physics or related quantum fields.

2026 Internship Project: Quantum Simulation

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