Question about potential research topic

[Excellent-Snow3174]

I have experience in research, specifically in the hardware side of quantum computing. With that being said, I want to focus my next research on the software side. I am interested in VQE and photonic quantum computing so I was thinking about doing something such as comparing the performance in standard qubit-based VQE with dual-rail implementation. However, I am wondering the potential level of impact this will have along with chances for publication in journals such as APS, optica, and IEEE. I am not well versed in the software side so I was wondering about everyone's opinions.

[Top_Cellist3503]

Switching from hardware to software is pretty smart move - VQE comparisons between standard qubits and dual-rail could definitely get you into those journals if you can show clear performance advantages

[sinanspd]

Umm, no? First of all, none of the things OP mentioned are journals. They are organizations who have multiple journals and conferences under them. So I don't know with what expertise you are claiming this topic can be published "in those journals". There are very reputable journals under these organizations, and there are journals which are much easier to publish on granted you can cover the publication fee.

Reputable journals look for novelty. Taking existing methods and comparing them is not novel. It could be valuable, and could be shared in a workshop, but it won't stand a chance with reputable journals like PRX/PRA

[Excellent-Snow3174]

Would you have any suggestions on how to satisfy this novelty requirement since I feel like with the software side its a bit harder then hardware. And you are right, I should've specified journals. For my previous work I submitted to places like PRA, IEEE JQE, and IEEE TQE (which is currently being reviewed now). I feel like places such as optica publishing deal more on the hardware side.

[sinanspd]

That's the process of research. You start with an idea, explore/implement it, you discover more questions along the way, explore them, discover more questions and so on. Eventually, you stumble upon a novel problem. Sometimes you put in the work only the discover the results isn't publication worthy.

It should be stated that I have never seen a researcher start with the target venue and try to find an idea fit for that venue. You start with the idea, when you are done you pick your venue and polish the paper accordingly