that's me
(to the left)

Alexander Belov
(Aleksandrs Belovs)

About Me

Positions

I am a full professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology
as well as a leading researcher at the Center for Quantum Computing Science
both at the University of Latvia.
I am also a corresponding member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

Research Interests

I am interested in theoretical computer science, mainly quantum algorithms and query complexity.
I mainly work on quantum algorithms (both time- and query-efficient) with emphasis on applications of quantum walks, and I am particularly fond of quantum query lower bounds.
I have also worked on other topics such as classical finite automata, property testing, and complexity measures of Boolean functions.

Short Bio and About my Name

I was born in the Republic of Latvia (at the time, the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic), where I was raised and spent most of my life.
However, I am Russian, and it causes some confusion with respect to transcription of my name. Depending on the context, I might use three different transcriptions of my name:

Александр Белов		This is the original Russian transcription (as in my birth certificate)
Aleksandrs Belovs		This is the Latvian transcription. It is my official name (as in my passport). I also use it for my papers.
Alexander Belov		This is the standard English transcription. I prefer using it when communicating in English.

You should not have trouble with pronouncing my first name (Alexander), while my last name (Belov) is pronounced roughly as be-LOFF (the emphasis on the second syllable).

Education and Postdocs

2015–2016:		Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the Netherlands postdoc with Ronald de Wolf
2014:		Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA postdoctoral associate with Scott Aaronson
2009–2014:		PhD in Computer Science, University of Latvia, supervisor: Andris Ambainis
2008:		Master of Mathematics, University of Waterloo, supervisor: Ashwin Nayak
2006–2009:		Master of Computer Science, University of Latvia, with distinction
2002–2006:		BSc in Computer Science, University of Latvia, with distinction

Activities

Editor:
- Quantum, the open journal for quantum science

Program committee member:

Member of grant evaluation panels:
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Call for Exploratory Research Projects in all Scientific Domains 2024, Computer and Information Sciences and Informatics
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), R&D Projects in All Scientific Domains 2025, Computer and Information Sciences and Informatics

I had been actively involved in the organization of mathematical Olympiads in Latvia:
- From 2009 to 2013, I was preparing best high school students for international olympiads in mathematics.
  I was teaching Number Theory and Combinatorics.
- In 2013, I was the leader of the team of Latvia at the 54th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Santa Marta, Colombia.
- In 2013, I was a coordinator at the Baltic Way mathematical team competition in Riga, Latvia.

Teaching

The courses I am currently teaching at the University of Latvia:

Formal Grammars, undergraduate
Computational Complexity, undergraduate
Quantum Algorithms, graduate
Mathematical Foundations of Cryptography, graduate
Mathematics for Computer Science (part), graduate
Quantum Information Theory (part), graduate

Selected Awards

IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity 2014:		Best student paper award
IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity 2013:		Best student paper award
International Olympiad in Informatics 2002, Korea:		Gold Medal
International Mathematical Olympiad 2002, UK:		Silver Medal
International Mathematical Olympiad 2001, USA:		Bronze Medal

Contact

Work Address:		Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Latvia
		Raiņa bulvāris 19, Rīga, Latvia, LV-1050
Email:		stiboh (a mollusk with a single spiral shell) gmail (a small roundish object) com

Last Updated

19 Jun 2026

Alexander Belov(Aleksandrs Belovs)