Mathematics, computing, and information theory. DNA-based archival data storage, high speed Ethernet, quantum error correction. Modeling, simulation and hardware specific optimisation.
My work is around taking concepts from theoretical information and coding theory and applying them to real world problems. It starts with understanding the underlying physical system (quartz glass, DNA, opto-electrical modules...) and asking what mathematical model best describes the system and its noise. Then there is a process of understanding which solutions / coding methods / algorithms can be useful and what are the constraints that will dictate the specific choice and implementation. This process is only as good as my understanding of the underlying problem and the desired outcome, and I have been very fortunate to work with (and be part of) many and varied teams, that often taught me a lot !.
More recently, I shifted my focus to quantum error correction. I maintain a (growing, educational) repository that tries to introduce QECC without going through quantum algorithms first (as I find most books do).
# Core research areas
interests = {
"quantum_error_correction": [
"constructions",
"compilers",
],
"LDPC": [
"codes",
"constructions",
],
"storage_of_binary_data_on_DNA": [
"basecaller_optimisation",
"channel_coding",
"multiplexing_nanopore_reading",
],
"Reinforcement_Learning_and_CUDA_accelerated_decoders": [
"Policy_Optimization",
"numba",
],
}
# Current focus
active = "qLDPC codes" + "multiplexed_DNA_reading"
$ python run_research.py
We are in a super exciting time for Quantum LDPC codes! My work takes classical decoders for Error Correcting Codes and adapts them to the stabilizer formalism. I try to document my journey so that other experts in classical ECC could use my tools and intuition to make their own transition to the quantum setting.
github.com/Omer-Sella/qecc ↗Formulating the search for good Quasi-Cyclic LDPC codes as a Markov decision process — consecutive replacement of circulant sub-matrices — and using Proximal Policy Optimization to discover novel parity-check matrices that outperform handcrafted constructions.
github.com/Omer-Sella/ldpc ↗LDPC codes are decoded via iterative message-passing on their Tanner graph — variable nodes and check nodes exchange soft-decision messages until the codeword converges. Understanding and accelerating this process is central to both classical and quantum LDPC work.
Revisiting over two decades of Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics with data storage in mind. Designing encodings that avoid problematic sequences (homopolymers, low GC-content), reduce synthesis cost, and recover gracefully from insertion-deletion errors.
github.com/Omer-Sella/Euclid ↗J. Quah, O. Sella, T. Heinis — Scientific Reports, 2025.
A. Menon, S. Brunmayr, O. Sella, T. Heinis — bioRxiv, 2025.07.27.667078.
O. S. Sella, T. Heinis — arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.10424.
P. Anderson, et al. (incl. O. Sella) — ACM Transactions on Storage, Vol. 21(1), pp. 1–31.
S. Brunmayr, O. S. Sella, T. Heinis — 23rd USENIX FAST '25, pp. 573–581.
S. Brunmayr, O. S. Sella, T. Heinis — 2024 (workshop / extended abstract, precursor to FAST '25).
O. Sella — PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2024.
P. Anderson, et al. (incl. O. Sella) — 29th ACM SOSP '23, Koblenz, Germany.
E. Marinelli, E. Ghabach, Y. Yan, T. Bolbroe, O. Sella, T. Heinis, R. Appuswamy — Transactions on Large-Scale Data- and Knowledge-Centered Systems LI (Special Issue).
J. Quah, O. Sella, T. Heinis — arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.05488.
O. S. Sella, A. Apelbaum, T. Heinis, J. Quah, A. W. Moore — ACM HotStorage '21.
E. Marinelli, E. Ghabach, T. Bolbroe, O. Sella, T. Heinis, R. Appuswamy — iPRES 2021.
O. S. Sella, A. W. Moore, N. Zilberman — NEAT@SIGCOMM '18, pp. 15–20.
O. S. Sella, A. W. Moore, N. Zilberman — ACM SIGCOMM Posters and Demos 2018, pp. 33–35.
J. Allingham, O. Sella — Unpublished / manuscript.
Sorted by year, most recent first. Click any entry to view on publisher site.
View full list on Google Scholar ↗Omer Sella et al. — Granted, United States Patent.
Omer Sella et al. — Granted, United States Patent.
Omer Sella et al. — Granted, United States Patent.
I'm always interested in collaborating on quantum systems, long term storage of binary data, and new computing paradigms. Feel free to reach out !
$ echo $STATUS
open_to_collaborations=true
research_focus=quantum_ecc
$