Daphne Wang

Now @ Quandela



Daphne Wang

I am a Quantum Information Scientist at Quandela (France), specialising in Quantum Machine Learning.

I did my Ph.D under the supervision of Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh and within the Centre for Doctoral Training in Delivering Quantum Technologies (funded by EPSRC). I was based in UCL within the Principles of Natural Language, Logic and Statistics research lab as well as the Principle of Programming Languages and Verification group.

Email: daphne.wang 'at' quandela.com

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Research Interests

  • Quantum Machine Learning
  • Computational Linguistics
  • Quantum Algorithms
  • Quantum Foundations
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Category theory

  • How can large language models become more human?
    Joint work with Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Wing Yee Chow and Richard Breheny
    Published in: Proceedings of the Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics. ACL Anthology (2024)
    Read here

  • Causality and Signalling of Garden-Path Sentences
    Joint work with Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh
    Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 382: 20230013 (2023)
    Read here

  • DisCoCat for Donkey Sentences
    Joint work with Lachlan McPheat
    Published in: Proceedings of Modalities in substructural logics: Applications at the interfaces of logic, language and computation. EPTCS (2023)
    Read here

  • The Causal Structure of Semantic Ambiguities
    Joint work with Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh
    Published in: Proceedings of Quantum Physics and Logic 2022. EPTCS (2023)
    Read here

  • Analysing Ambiguous Nouns and Verbs with Quantum Contextuality Tools
    Joint work with Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Samson Abramsky and Victor H. Cervantes
    Published in: Journal of Cognitive Science, 22(3), 391-420 (2021)
    Read here

  • On the quantum-like contextuality of ambiguous phrases
    Joint work with Mehrnoosh Sadrzadeh, Samson Abramsky and Victor H. Cervantes
    Published in: Proceedings of Workshop on Semantic Spaces at the Intersection of NLP, Physics, and Cognitive Science (SemSpace2021) colocated with 14th International Conference on Computational Semantics (IWCS 2021). ACL Anthology (2021)
    Read here

Unpublished work

  • A Quantum-Inspired Analysis of Human Disambiguation Processes (PhD Thesis)
    Read here

  • Sheaf Theoretic Models of Contextuality - from Quantum Measurements to Natural Language (MRes Thesis)
    Read here

  • Quantum Causality and Higher Order Processes (MSc Thesis)
    Read here

  • The Contextuality of a Text (Distributional Models of Meaning course mini-project)
    Read here

  • CMCL 2024 (@ ACL 2024)
    How can large language models become more human?
    15th Aug 2024

  • MOSAIC 2023
    Semantics of Donkey Sentences in Modal Lambek Calculus
    28th Sept 2023

  • Samson Abramsky on Logic and Structure in Computer Science and Beyond
    Causality and Signalling of Garden-Path Sentences
    20th Sept 2023

  • Pros & Comps 2023 (Procedural and computational models of semantic and pragmatic processes)
    Sheaves and garden-path sentences
    2nd Aug 2023
    Abstract

  • WiL 2023 (Women in Logic)
    Presheaf models of Human Parsing
    1st July 2023

  • PPLV Seminar
    A sheaf-theoretic model of Garden-path sentences
    3rd Feb 2023

  • QCQMB2022 (Quantum Contextuality in Quantum Mechanics and Beyond)
    Causality and signalling of garden-path sentences
    18th December 2022

  • Sheaf Lunch
    Sheaf Approaches to Language Modelling
    16th Nov 2022

  • QPL 2022 (Quantum Physics and Logic)
    The Causal Structure of Semantic Ambiguities
    29th June 2022
    Watch here

  • PPLV Seminar
    Quantum-like contextuality in natural language
    11th Nov 2021

  • Mathematical and Computational Psychology colloquium
    Methods from Quantum Contextuality in Psycholinguistics
    4th Oct 2021 (invited talk at Purdue University)

  • QNLP seminar series
    On the Quantum-like Contextuality of Ambiguous Phrases
    25th June 2021

  • SemSpace2021 Workshop
    On the Quantum-like Contextuality of Ambiguous Phrases
    16th June 2021

  • QCQMB2021 (Quantum Contextuality in Quantum Mechanics and Beyond)
    In search of true contextuality in natural language
    18th May 2021
    Watch here, slides available here

  • LSD (Learning with Small Data)
    An Incremental Model of Garden-Path Sentences Using Sheaf Theory
    12th Sept 2023

  • QPL 2023 (Quantum Physics and Logic)
    Variational Quantum Circuits for Meaning Prediction
    17th Jul 2023


  • Best Paper Award (for: How can large language models become more human?)
    (CMCL 2024)

  • Research Spotlight Competition finalist
    (London Hopper Colloquium 2023)

  • EDI student award
    (2022, 2nd place - group activities)

  • Outstanding Paper Award
    (QCQMB 2021 workshop)

  • Research Spotlight Competition finalist
    (London Hopper Colloquium 2020)

Teaching Assistant

  • 2022 - 2023: COMP0157 Quantum Computation (UCL)
  • 2021 - 2022: COMP0157 Quantum Computation (UCL)
  • 2021 - 2022: COMP0011 Mathematics and Statistics (UCL)

Other

  • 2021 - 2022: Co-supervisor of YiFan Li (MRes in Quantum Technologies)

Academic

  • 2019 - 2024: University College London (UCL)
    Centre for Doctoral Training in Delivering Quantum Technologies

  • 2018 - 2019: University of Oxford (St Cross College)
    MSc in Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science

  • 2017 - 2018: Durham University
    MSc Mathematical Sciences

  • 2014 - 2017: Durham University
    BSc Natural Sciences (Mathematics and Physics)

Industry

  • 2022: Intern at Quantinuum