About

What the zoo is

The QIQCOP Zoo collects research-level open problems in quantum information and quantum computation. Each record is written for readers with a PhD in the field: a self-contained statement with the definitions it needs, the paper that posed the problem, the results that delimit it, the precise remaining gap, and full references with author–year labels.

The zoo holds 105 permanent records covering 104 distinct questions: 95 unsolved and 9 solved. Equivalent formulations are linked and count once in these question totals. Solved problems stay in the zoo with their resolution so that citations survive.

How to contribute

The quickest route is the proposal form: describe the problem, its sources, and what is known, and leave your name and email. No account is needed. The maintainers check every proposal against the literature, rewrite it in the zoo's format, and publish it with credit to you; nothing appears on the site automatically. To add a record yourself through GitHub:

Fork the repository and run node scripts/new-problem-id.mjs --create to create a problem template with permanent identifiers.
Write the statement, status, source, progress, references, and comment as TeX fragments in the record's fields, following the contribution guide, and choose one or two fields and one to five topics from database/tags.json. Run node scripts/migrate-metadata.mjs after changing the classifications.
Run node scripts/sync-tex.mjs to write the record's TeX form, then node site/build.mjs. The build rejects records with missing fields, unknown or miscounted fields and topics, unresolved citations, or unlabeled equations.
Open a pull request. To report progress on an existing problem, use the Edit button on its page or open an issue with the primary sources.

How to cite

Cite the primary sources for any mathematical claim. To cite a problem page for its statement, status, or stable identifier, use the Cite button on that page. To cite the zoo as a whole:

@misc{qiqcop_zoo,
  title = {Quantum Information and Quantum Computation Open Problem Zoo (QIQCOP Zoo)},
  howpublished = {\url{https://qiqc-op.com/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Accessed 2026-09-08}
}

Use the MCP server

Connect your AI assistant through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to search the zoo, read problem statements and references, and gather the known results and remaining questions for a research session.

Use a client that supports remote MCP servers over Streamable HTTP. Connect with the address below; no download, local setup, or API key is needed to read the catalog.

Add the server. In your client's MCP or connector settings, add a remote server named quantum-open-problems. Paste this server URL and choose Streamable HTTP if a transport is requested:
```
https://api.qiqc-op.com/mcp
```
Connect your assistant. Save or enable the connection. For clients that accept URL entries in an mcpServers configuration:
JSON configuration for clients using mcpServers

Add this entry to your existing configuration, then reload the client's MCP connection. Some clients use a settings form instead.
```
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "quantum-open-problems": {
      "url": "https://api.qiqc-op.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```
Ask a research question. For example: “Use the quantum-open-problems MCP to find unsolved problems about quantum channel capacity, then summarize one problem's known progress and references.” The assistant can use search_problems, get_problem, list_references, and build_context.

The connection reads the current hosted catalog, including newly published problems. If it fails, check the catalog service status and confirm that your client supports remote MCP. The MCP setup and tool guide also covers local clients and authenticated research contributions. For direct downloads, the JSON catalog, taxonomy, and agent guide are available.

Contributions

This project is developed and maintained by Bikun Li, Qicheng Tang, Chengkai Zhu, Minbo Gao, Bin Cheng, and Naixu Guo.

We thank GaugeForge for its financial support of this project.

Mathematics is typeset with MathJax.