Stefano Pirandola's website

Short Bio

Hi there! I am a lecturer at the University of York since May 2010. I work in the Department of Computer Science within the Non-Standard Computation Group. My research is mainly in the field of Quantum Information and Computation. Before becoming lecturer, I was a Marie Curie fellow of the European Union from 2007 to 2010. I spent most of my fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge MA, USA) working 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 got a PhD in Physics from the University of Camerino (2005) and a Master's degree in Physics from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (2001).

My Research (at a glance)

I am a theoretical physicist with 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, including:

• Quantum Cryptography
• Quantum Teleportation
• Quantum Discrimination and Measurement Theory
• Capacities of Quantum Channels
• Quantum Error Correction
• Quantum Entanglement and its practical exploitation
• Opto-Mechanical Systems
• Laser Cooling

Selection of Scientific Publications

I have published around 40 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. Most of these papers are available on the arxiv and are listed in the "Virtual Journal of Quantum Information". Here is a list of selected publications:

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

Click on the links below to read reviews of 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)

Click on the links below to read reviews of 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)

• 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)

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

• 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)

• 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)

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

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

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)

Selection of Invited Talks/Seminars

This is a list of my most recent invited talks and seminars...

• Coherent-state protocols in quantum cryptography
  External seminar series of the Quantum Information Group, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK (8 Feb 2012)

• Quantum Reading of Digital Memories
  CQIF seminar series, Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (1 Dec 2011)

• Binary Quantum Discrimination
  The second xQIT conference: “Difficult Problems in Quantum Information Theory,” MIT, Cambridge MA, USA (May 2-3, 2011)

• Entanglement-assisted discrimination of Gaussian channels

Centre for Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (CTAMOP) - Queen's University Belfast (15 Feb 2011)

• Topics in Gaussian Quantum Discrimination

Quantum Stochastics and Information (QSI) Seminar - University of Nottingham (24 Nov 2010)

• Quantum discrimination of Gaussian channels and technological applications

Università Autonoma Barcellona, Spain (March 5, 2010)

• New frontiers in quantum information: multi-way quantum cryptography and entanglement-assisted channel discrimination
  Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge, UK (Jan 8, 2010)

• Quantum state discrimination with continuous variables: quantum reading and quantum illumination

Indo-US-Canadian advanced school on “Quantum and Nano Computing Systems and Applications” (QANSAS),
Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, India (December 15-18, 2009)

• Gaussian Channel Discrimination

Quantum Information Seminar (QIS) Series, MIT, Cambridge MA, USA (Nov 30, 2009)

• Discrimination of Quantum Channels

Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA (Nov 19, 2009).

• Direct and Reverse Secret-Key Capacities of a Quantum Channel

xQIT conference: “Difficult Problems in Quantum Information Theory,” MIT, Cambridge MA, USA (November 19-20, 2008).

• Computable bounds for the discrimination of Gaussian states

xQIT One-Day Meeting on Quantum Communication, Sensing and Control, MIT, Cambridge MA, USA (Jan 29, 2008).

My teaching at the Department of Computer Science

• Academic year 2010-2011:
  • Computer Science Writing (CSW)
• Academic year 2011-2012:
• Computer Science Writing (CSW)
• Information Theory (ITH)

Module descriptions can be found here (authentication required).