About Me
I am a PhD candidate in Quantum Machine Learning at the University of Basel, working at the intersection of mathematical physics, theoretical computer science, and statistical learning theory. My research focuses on the interplay between trainability, computational complexity, and generalization: when quantum models can be trained efficiently, what makes them hard to simulate classically, and how their architectures determine statistical performance.
I approach these questions using high-dimensional probability, random matrix theory, optimization, and computational complexity theory.
I am part of the Optimization of Machine Learning Systems Group. My research is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and conducted in collaboration with IBM Research Zürich.
My interest in computation began with a curiosity about how software can simulate physical worlds. Outside research, I produce music across different genres and styles; some of it is available on YouTube.
Research Highlights
Our work introduces the Taylor surrogate and Linear Clifford Encoder to study gradient scaling and simulation complexity near Clifford circuits. We obtain rigorous guarantees in specified regimes and numerical evidence of a possible transition that calls for further theoretical investigation.
We characterize double descent with correlated features and translate the theory to quantum extreme learning machines. Encoding strength, input reuploads, and measurement shots provide ways to reshape feature covariance and stabilize learning near interpolation.
Research
Three closely connected questions guide my work: how quantum models can be trained, when their behavior can be reproduced classically, and how reliably they generalize from data.
Publications
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Sabri Meyer, Francesco Scala, Francesco Tacchino, and Aurélien Lucchi.
Gradient scalability and Taylor surrogation of quantum cost landscapes.
Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023325, 2026.
Introduces a Taylor surrogate for classical simulation near Clifford circuits and a Linear Clifford Encoder for controlling gradient scaling. The work establishes rigorous guarantees in specific regimes and presents preliminary numerical evidence of a possible trainability–complexity transition.
Preprints
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Sabri Meyer, Ege Yilmaz, Aurélien Lucchi, Francesco Tacchino, and Francesco Scala.
Shaping double descent in quantum extreme learning through model design.
arXiv preprint arXiv:2610.06581, 2026.
Analytically characterizes the full double-descent risk curve for correlated linear features and applies the theory to quantum extreme learning machines. Shows how encoding strength, input reuploads, and finite measurement shots regularize the output covariance and can stabilize the interpolation threshold.
Selected Conferences & Research Schools
Selected conferences, workshops, and research schools attended.
Teaching
Teaching Assistant, Mathematics of Data Science — University of Basel (Fall 2023 – Present).
Topics include probability and mathematical statistics, random matrix theory, high-dimensional analysis, neural networks, and graph-based learning methods such as spectral clustering and diffusion maps.
Education
- Electives in Algebraic Geometry
- Specialized in Algebraic Number Theory, Analysis of PDEs, and Stochastic Analysis
- Master Thesis on the Hessian Eigenspectrum of Nonlinear Neural Networks
- Electives in Theoretical Quantum Mechanics
- Electives in Physics & Computer Science