2026 Internship Project: Hamiltonian Learning

Rigetti Computing•Berkeley, CA 94701, US• Internship

Posted 2 weeks ago• Aerospace Engineering

Compensation

$35.00–$50.00/hour

Job Description

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. Understanding the bottlenecks and improving the fidelities of operations on quantum chips is critical to achieve this goal.

About the internship

As an intern, you will work on implementing algorithms to learn the native Hamiltonian and noise governing the qubits on a superconducting quantum chip during parallel gate execution. You will model the effective Hamiltonian and noise on a small multi-qubit subsystem, co-design experiments to validate the model, reconstruct the Hamiltonian and noise from numerical simulations, and validate the model on the chip. You will produce a pre-production research codebase which can be used for continued development to learn the Hamiltonian and noise. This is a rare opportunity for an intern to work on cutting edge research outside academia, with the opportunity to interface with benchmarking, calibration, and device theory teams.

Additional points: There is flexibility to work remotely or in the office at Berkeley. Your mentors will be remote. The internship should last 3 months over the summer of 2026, with flexible start and end dates.

Requirements

Master or PhD candidate: Currently pursuing a Masters or Ph.D. in quantum many-body physics, quantum information, or a related field.

Strong coding skills: Proven experience using Python for implementing advanced simulations of quantum many-body systems.

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 Hardware Experience: Hands-on experience designing and executing experiments on quantum hardware.

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

Coding Experience: Proven experience with python libraries such as numpy, scipy, QuTiP, JAX.

Scientific Impact: A demonstrated publication record in quantum physics.

As engineering leaders, we value diversity and are committed to building a culture of inclusion to attract and engage innovative thinkers. Our technology, meant to serve all of humanity, cannot succeed if those who built it do not mirror the diversity of the communities we serve. Applications from women, minorities, and other under-represented groups are encouraged.

About Rigetti

Rigetti Computing is a pioneer in full-stack quantum computing. The company has operated quantum computers over the cloud since 2017 and serves global enterprise, government, and research clients through its Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services platform. The company’s proprietary quantum-classical infrastructure provides ultra-low latency integration with public and private clouds for high-performance practical quantum computing. Rigetti has developed the industry’s first multi-chip quantum processor for scalable quantum computing systems. The company designs and manufactures its chips in-house at Fab-1, the industry’s first dedicated and integrated quantum device manufacturing facility. Rigetti was founded in 2013 and today employs more than 150 people with offices in the United States, U.K., and Australia. Learn more at www.rigetti.com.

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Export Licensing Compliance

Rigetti is committed to full compliance with applicable anti-discrimination laws. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We strive to create an inclusive work environment and will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.