About
Researcher in quantum foundations
I have a PhD in quantum information with particular interest in quantum foundations. I did my PhD in the LIP6 lab and published a thesis called "Extending contextuality frameworks: from noise to sequentiality" under the supervision of Damian Markham. I focus my research on contextuality, a feature that mathematically resemble non-locality but has a different philosophical meaning. This property is believed to be at the heart of the advantage of quantum computing, but more importantly it might be the feature that clarifies the unresolved aspects of quantum theory. Beyond theoretical research, I am developing a Python package to compute various quantities related to contextuality, available on PyPi and GitHub
- Email: kim_vallee (at) pm (dot) me
Research interests
Contextuality
Amongst quantum foundations, topics related to contextuality are my domain. In particular, I explore the paths opened by the sheaf-theoretic approach to contextuality, but also by generalized contextuality, related to sequential scenarios and extended hidden variable models. Ranging from fundamental questions to applications, my interest is very broad.
Programming
I am interested in programming from two sides. First, I like linear programming and semi-definite programming in a broad sense. Second, I have developped a Python package named "contextuality" that enables anyone to compute various quantities in an instant, using linear programming but not limited to that, providing a toolbox in Python.
Psi-ontology
Close to the end of my PhD I read a lot about psi-ontology. This became one of my research interest, especially giving an overview of the possibilities of psi-epistemic theories. Especially, I have been exploring the relation between contextuality and the meaning of psi-ontology through the lens of fidelity.
Resume
You can find in details my curriculum below, from high school to my current position.
PhD - Quantum foundations
PhD
October 2022 - March 2026
Contextuality, LP & SDP, noisy inequalities
My PhD is focused on contextuality, its definition, its potential usefulness, and potentially how to measure it with noise or imperfect experimental setup. More can be found in the publications part and in the curriculum part. During my PhD I am also teaching in programming (C mostly) and in Master 2 (Quantum information). Under the supervision of Damian Markham and Marco Túlio Quintino.
LIP6 - Contextuality
Internship
January - July 2022
Contextuality, frameworks, literature review
This 6 months internship served as a basis for my PhD, with an extensive introduction to contextuality and a long literature review, this allowed me to start my PhD with strong knowledge (yet incomplete) of contextuality. I skimmed through a lot of frameworks in order to get used to them. Under the supervision of Dr. Damian Markham.
ATOS - Quantum simulation
Internship
June - September 2021
Quantum simulation, condensed matter, myQLM
Study of condensed matter systems, quasi periodic potential, and computation of interesting quantities such as the superfluid fraction and the inverse participation ratio on a quantum computer, aiming at NISQ devices. Under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Ayral.
CPHT - Fractality condensed matter
Internship
September 2020 - Septembre 2021
Condensed matter, fractality, Aubry-André
This one year internship, which was focused on condensed matter, was made in parallel to my Master degree. I was focusing on the appearance of fractality in condensed matter systems, such as the Aubry-André model and its consequences on energy levels or material properties.
LIP6 - Photononics
Internship
June - August 2020
Optics, quantum computing
This internship unfortunately fell in the middle of the COVID pandemic, but I had the occasion to talk with LIP6 members and learn about photonic quantum computing. One the aim was to be able to implement better CNOT gates in a photonic circuit. Under the supervision of Dr. Frédéric Grosshans & Dr. Andrea Olivo.
Private teacher
Other
September 2019 - April 2020
Teaching, computer science, physics
During my Bachelor's degree year I took some of my time to teach students ranging from computer science to physics, I helped a lot of students to get their diploma. It was also a nice experience to learn how to teach which helped me a lot with my current activities.
IEMN - Statistical Physics
Internship
June 2019 - July 2019
Statistical physics, Fortran, 1D chain
I discovered the field of statistical physics, using FORTRAN to make efficient simulations, in the aim of measuring the ballistic effect of temperature. It was only a discovery internship but it was nonetheless very interesting under the supervision or Dr. Pier Luca Palla.
PhD in Quantum Foundations
10/2022 - 03/2026
Location: Paris, France
3 years and 6 months PhD on quantum foundations, particularly focused on contextuality. Participation in conferences. For a more complete description, look at the employments, teachings and conferences tabs. More can be found about my interests in the research interest section and in the papers section.
Master of Physics
09/2020 - 07/2022
Location: Palaiseau, France
À la carte classes, comprising both physics (quantum theory, quantum information, lasers and masers, condensed matter theory) and computer science (deep learning, machine learning, mathematical optimization). For these two years I was awarded a scholarship of excellence. I also did an internship in condensed matter theory in the master years.
Physics & CS Bachelor (3rd year)
09/2019 - 05/2020
Location: Paris, France
Third year of Bachelor degree in double major Physics and Computer Science. Unique student of the studies, which were created for me. Highest honours on the degree.
Physics Bachelor (1st & 2nd year)
09/2017 - 05/2019
Location: Lille, France
Bachelor degree in Physics, with more than 50% of classes in English. This was done at the same time as my Bachelor degree in computer science. Highest honours & top 5 of the school year each year.
Computer Science Bachelor (1st & 2nd year)
09/2017 - 05/2019
Location: Lille, France
Bachelor degree in Computer Science, with more than 50% of classes in English. This was done at the same time as my Bachelor degree in Physics. Highest honours & top 1 of the school year each year.
Data structure
2022 - 2023
17.5 h / year - Licence 2
This course in C is an advanced course for computer scientist where they have to do a mini-project in C. The year I was teaching students had to program a mini-git in C, where they could add, commit and checkout branches.
Quantum Information
2022 - 2026
6.0 h / year - Master 2
In this course I handled 3 tutorials on contextuality, writing the exercise sheets and corrections. It served as an introduction to Kochen Specker contextuality, under the Sheaf-Theoretic framework approach. I also made exercises on non-locality.
Programming elements 2
2022 - 2026
38.5 h / year - Licence 1
The course focuses on teaching the basics of C to students. It is a good introduction to types and structures in C with two practical exams. I am a practical session teacher.
OOP introduction
2023 - 2026
19.5 h / year - Licence 2
This course teaches the basics of Object-Oriented Programming in Java. The students had to learn about all the concepts around classes in Java. As a teacher I was helping in class and I prepared midterm exams on computer.
Solstice of foundations
June 20, 2022 - June 24, 2022
Summer school - In person - ETH, Zürich, Swizerland
Picturing Quantum Weirdness
July 2, 2023 - July 16, 2023
Summer school - Online - ICTQT, Gdansk, Poland
Online following of the summer school on ZX calculus and diagrammatic representation of quantum mechanics.
QPL
July 17, 2023 - July 21, 2023
Conference - In person - IHP, Paris, France
Poster presentation of my paper Corrected Bell and Noncontextuality Inequalities for Realistic Experiments .
FoQaCiA
April 29, 2024 - May 3, 2024
Conference - In person - Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Canada
Presented a gong show talk of 5min about the current status of my research.
Papers
Formalizing contextuality in sequential scenarios (2025)
K Vallée, D Markham
Corrected Bell and non-contextuality inequalities for realistic experiments (2024)
K Vallée, PE Emeriau, B Bourdoncle, A Sohbi, S Mansfield, D Markham
Publications Fetched from google scholar
Years as a researcher
Collaborators across papers
Skills
Linguistic skills
- English — bilingual
- French — native
- Japanese — notions
- German — notions
Practical skills
- Quantum foundations — Contextuality, Locality, 𝛙-ontology
- Programming — Python, C, LaTeX, Julia
- Mathematical optimization — Linear Programming, Semi-Definite Programming
- Machine & deep learning — Theory, Applications
- Office suite — Word, excel
- Figma — Average usage
Blog
Interested in my side projects ? This is the place to look. Ranging from board games to music, I will put in my blog my various ongoing activities and projects.
- All
- QATS (1)
- SCIENCE (1)
Contact
Location:
LIP6, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris
Email:
kim_vallee (at) pm (dot) me