Certification of Quantum Technologies

Antonio Acín (ICFO)

ABSTRACT: 

Quantum technologies promise applications with no classical counterpart: more powerful computers or novel forms of encryption become possible when information is encoded on quantum systems. Given a quantum system, how can one ensure that it (i) is entangled? (ii) random? (iii) secure? (iv) performs a computation correctly? The concept of quantum certification embraces all these questions. It is crucial for the future development of quantum information technologies, but also goes at the heart of the fundamental question of what distinguishes quantum from classical physics. The talk first provides an introduction to the general problem of quantum certification and then focuses on methods for the certification of quantum cryptography protocols and quantum optimisers.

BIO:

Antonio Acín is an ICREA Research Professor at ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences. He has a degree in Physics from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) and in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. He got his PhD in Theoretical Physics in 2001 from the UB. After a post-doctoral stay in Geneva, he joined ICFO in 2003. At ICFO, Acín leads the Quantum Information Theory group. The group activities focus on quantum information theory and quantum communication, with an emphasis on quantum cryptography, but also cover other fields such as quantum optics, many-body physics, quantum thermodynamics, of the foundations of quantum physics. Acín has published more than 180 articles in peer-reviewed journals and given more than 130 invited talks at international events. His research has been awarded with 4 grants from the European Research Council: 1 Starting, 1 Proof of Concept, 1 Consolidator and 1 Advanced Grant, the latter starting in 2020. He also received an AXA Chair in Quantum Information Science in 2016.