Uma Girish
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Computer Science, Columbia University
ug2150 (at) columbia (dot) edu

About Me
I am a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University hosted by Henry Yuen. I obtained a PhD at Princeton University in 2024, where I was extremely fortunate to be advised by Ran Raz. I received my BSc and MSc from Chennai Mathematical Institute.
My research focuses on the interplay between quantum computing, complexity theory and the analysis of Boolean functions and tackles foundational questions, such as: When do quantum algorithms achieve significant speedups over their classical counterparts, and to what extent? How do different models of quantum computation compare with each other?
Publications
Quantum Advantages over Classical
The Power of Adaptivity in Quantum Query Algorithms
with Makrand Sinha, Avishay Tal and Kewen Wu.
In STOC 2024, QIP 2024. Arxiv
Trade-offs between Entanglement and Communication
with Srinivasan Arunachalam.
In CCC 2023, QIP 2024. Arxiv
One Clean Qubit Suffices for Quantum Communication Advantage
with Srinivasan Arunachalam and Noam Lifshitz.
In TQC 2024. Arxiv
Fourier Growth of Communication Protocols for XOR Functions
with Makrand Sinha, Avishay Tal and Kewen Wu.
In FOCS 2023. Arxiv
Space-Bounded Computation
Eliminating Intermediate Measurements using Pseudorandom Generators
with Ran Raz.
Parallel Repetition
Polynomial Bounds On Parallel Repetition For All 3-Player Games With Binary Inputs
with Kunal Mittal, Ran Raz and Wei Zhan.
APPROX/RANDOM 2022. ECCC
Parallel Repetition For All 3-Player Games Over Binary Alphabet
with Justin Holmgren, Kunal Mittal, Ran Raz and Wei Zhan.
Selected Talks
Fourier Growth of Communication Protocols for XOR Functions
Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, Berkeley. Link to video.
Parallel Repetition for the GHZ Game: A Simpler Proof
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. Link to video.
Quantum Logspace Algorithm for Powering Contraction Matrices
Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), Waterloo Link to video.
Teaching
- TA in COS340: Reasoning about Computation, Fall 2020.
- TA in COS585: Information Theory and Applications, Fall 2019.
Service
I have served on the program committees for TQC 2024 and QIP 2025 and will serve on the committee for RANDOM 2025.