Stefano Pirandola's website

Very Short Bio

Hi there! My research is mainly in the field of Quantum Information and Computation. From 2007 to 2010, I was a Marie Curie fellow of the European Union. Until late 2009, I worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) and the center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory (xQIT). Previously, from 2005 to 2007, I was a postdoctoral researcher in Italy, where I also got a PhD in Physics in 2005 and a Master's degree in Physics in 2001.

My Research (at a glance)

I am a theoretical physicist and computer scientist with main background in quantum mechanics, quantum optics and information theory. Most of my research activity has been devoted to quantum information theory, with a special regard for the so-called "continuous variable systems".

I have been interested in many topics related to quantum information, including:

• Quantum Cryptography
• Quantum Entanglement and Teleportation
• Quantum State Discrimination
• Quantum Measurement Theory
• Black Holes Quantum Information
• Capacities of Quantum Channels
• Quantum Error Correction
• Quantum Technologies
• Opto-Mechanical Systems
• Laser Cooling

Selection of Scientific Publications

I have published more than 40 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. Most of them are available on the arXiv. Here is a list of selected publications:

• S. L. Braunstein, S. Pirandola, and Karol Zyczkowski
  Better Late than Never: Information Retrieval from Black Holes
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 101301 (2013) - arXiv - PRL

Click on the links below to read reviews on this work:

Curtains down for the black hole firewall paradox: making gravity safe for Einstein again (Press release, York) (Physorg) (ScienceDaily) (SpaceDaily)
Gravity-less toy black hole solves cosmic puzzles - NewScientist
Domate le fiamme all’orizzonte degli eventi - INAF media (Italian Institute of Astrophysics)

• C. Weedbrook, S. Pirandola, R. Garcia-Patron, T. C. Ralph, N. Cerf, J. H. Shapiro, and S. Lloyd
  Gaussian Quantum Information
  Reviews of Modern Physics 84, 621 (2012) - arXiv

• S. L. Braunstein and S. Pirandola
  Side-channel free quantum key distribution
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 130502 (2012) - arXiv

• M. Abdi, S. Pirandola, P. Tombesi, D. Vitali
  Entanglement swapping with local certification: Application to remote micromechanical resonators
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 143601 (2012) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola, C. Lupo, V. Giovannetti, S. Mancini, S. L. Braunstein
  Quantum Reading Capacity
  New J. Phys. 13, 113012 (2011) - arXiv

Included in the Highlights of 2011 by the Institute of Physics (IOP)

• S Pirandola
  Quantum Reading of a Classical Digital Memory
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 090504 (2011) - arXiv

Click on the links below to read reviews on this work:

Reading in the dark - Nature Physics 7, 278 (2011)
A few good photons - Physics
Reading discs with fewer photons - Physics World
Using quantum methods to read classical memories offers surprising advantages - PhysOrg
Other reviews (Italian magazines): Ulisse and Oggi Scienza

• S. Lloyd, L. Maccone, R. G.-Patron, V. Giovannetti, Y. Shikano, S. Pirandola, L. A. Rozema, A. Darabi, Y. Soudagar, L. K. Shalm, A. M. Steinberg
  Closed timelike curves via post-selection: theory and experimental demonstration
  Phys. Rev. Lett.106, 040403 (2011) - arXiv

Click on the links below to read reviews on this work:

Time Travel without Regrets - Phys. Rev. Focus 27, 5 (2011)
Time travel experiment demonstrates how to avoid the grandfather paradox - PhysOrg
Other reviews (Italian magazines): Ulisse, Oggi Scienza and Impatto globale

• C. Weedbrook, S. Pirandola, S. Lloyd, and T. C. Ralph
  Quantum Cryptography Approaching the Classical Limit
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 110501 (2010) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola, R. Garcia-Patron, S. L. Braunstein, and S. Lloyd
  Direct and Reverse Secret-Key Capacities of a Quantum Channel
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 050503 (2009) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola, S. Mancini, S. Lloyd, and S. L. Braunstein
  Continuous Variable Quantum Cryptography using Two-Way Quantum Communication
  Nature Physics 4, 726 (2008) - arXiv

• S.-H. Tan, B. I. Erkmen, V. Giovannetti, S. Guha, S. Lloyd, L. Maccone, S. Pirandola, and J. H. Shapiro
  Quantum Illumination with Gaussian States
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 253601 (2008) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola, S. L. Braunstein, and S. Lloyd
  Characterization of Collective Gaussian Attacks and Security of Coherent-State Quantum Cryptography
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 200504 (2008) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola and S. Lloyd
  Computable bounds for the discrimination of Gaussian states
  Phys. Rev. A 78, 012331 (2008) - arXiv

• S. Pirandola, D. Vitali, P. Tombesi, and S. Lloyd
  Macroscopic entanglement by entanglement swapping
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 150403 (2006) - arXiv

For more on macroscopic entanglement read: Scientists present method for entangling macroscopic objects - PhysOrg

• S. Pirandola, S. Mancini, D. Vitali, and P. Tombesi
  Continuous variable entanglement and quantum state teleportation between optical and macroscopic
  vibrational modes through radiation pressure
  Phys. Rev. A 68, 062317 (2003) - arXiv