QUANTUM LAB - Key Persons
Currently investigating topics related to the field of Quantum Machine Learning, with a focus on optical based implementations of quantum neural networks. He graduated in October 2021 at Sapienza Università di Roma under the supervision of Prof. Fabio Sciarrino, with a thesis entitled "Quantum Optical Neural Networks".
Job Titles:
- Researcher at Leonardo 's Quantum Technology Labs
Alessia Suprano currently works as researcher at Leonardo's Quantum Technology Labs, specializing in quantum communication and imaging. She received her PhD from Sapienza University of Rome in May 2022, under the supervision of Prof. Fabio Sciarrino, with a thesis on high-dimensional photonics resources. Her postdoctoral work at Sapienza focused on quantum computing with high-dimensional states and integrated optical circuits, and on quantum communication protocols.
Currently working as PostDoctoral Researcher at ICFO-institut de ciencies fotoniques, he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma with a thesis on Polarization and frequency entanglement for experiments in bulk and integrated optic. His activities as Post-doc primarily focused on experimental observation of non-markovianity and its applications in quantum information protocols.
Andrea Geraldi graduated in October 2017 at Sapienza Università di Roma and he finished his PhD program in March 2021. Besides, he won a post-doc position in the Quantum Information Lab. During his PhD he spent four months in the Integrated Quantum optics group at University of Paderborn, headed by Christine Silberhorn. During his Post-Doc he studied particle propagation in a quantum walk scenario, with a particular focus on the disordered evolution, which was intimately linked to the description of the movement of energy excitation in the matter. He also studied how quantum correlation of two indistinguishable particles affect the evolution of the particles, with possible applications to quantum information tasks such as metrology. He also focused on the quantum state discrimination problem, which was a fundamental building block of quantum cryptography, by investigating novel techniques aimed at lowering the amount of resources needed to perform such a task.
Chiara Esposito graduated in May 2018 at the Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" and she discussed the PhD thesis in May 2022 at the University of Rome "Sapienza".
During her PhD, she worked on a test for genuine multi-photon indistinguishability for boson sampling applications and she realized quantum multiphoton interference in linear momentum of the light by exploiting liquid crystal devices.
Currently she works on quantum walk application in quantum state engineering and in realization of quantum channels.
The research activity of Chiara Esposito has focused on the realization of the quantum multiphoton interference in position and linear momentum of the photons. During the PhD she characterized the quantum states produced by a photon source by exploiting quantum multi-photon interference effects in bulk linear interferometer. She witnessed the indistinguishability of a four photon states and the coherence of three photon states. Boson sampling experiments are realized by exploiting a reconfigurable integrated photonic chip. Moreover, she projected and realized a photonic platform for the realization of quantum walk experiments encoded in the linear momentum of light in multiparticle regime. The arrangement of this platform enabled full control over the indistinguishability of the input photons. The versatility of the platform can be applied for engineering high-dimensional quantum states.
After the PhD period, her efforts have been devoted to the study and realization of one-photon and two-photon quantum states in linear momentum of the light. Regarding multiphoton experiments she is currently working on realization of Bernulli factory protocol in integrated photonic device.
Chiara is author of 5 publications in scientific journals, including 1 Optica, 1 Physical Review Research and 2 npj-Quantum Information with an h-index of 2 according to Web of Science (3 in Google Scholar).
Currently working at Italian Power Exchange, she received her PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma. Her activity as post-doc primarily focused on integrated optical circuits for investigation of quantum information protocols and quantum simulation.
Currently investigating the applications of quantum walk dynamics in the orbital angular momentum degree of freedom of the photons using machine learning techniques. He graduated in October 2020 at Sapienza Università di Roma.
Davide Poderini received his master's degree in 2017 at the Sapienza Università di Roma. During his Ph.D. he worked mainly in the field of causal inference and causal violations in quantum systems, both from a fundamental and technological point of view. Currently his research activities are still focused on causality, and in particular in the experimental realization of photonic platforms for fundamental tests and for quantum communication protocols.
Job Titles:
- Policy Officer at EU Agency
Currently working as Policy Officer at EU Agency of the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, she received her PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma and her activities as post-doc primarily focused on the orbital angular momentum of light and its applications in quantum information and communication.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Faculty
- EVENTS
He graduated in November 2016 at the Sapienza Università di Roma and obtained the PhD in February 2020. Currently working on photonic technologies for quantum foundations studies and quantum information tasks. In particular he worked on: fundamental tests on wave-particle duality of photons, study of nonlocality in different quantum networks, quantum metrology protocols, generation, transmission and measurement of quantum states of light carrying Orbital Angular Momentum, and realization of entangled photons sources.
The research activity of Emanuele Polino focused on the experimental implementation of quantum foundation tests and quantum information protocols with different photonic platforms. The research efforts during the PhD period focused on the generation, manipulation, and characterization of photonic quantum states, for their applications in wave-particle duality studies and quantum metrology protocols. More specifically, entangled states of photons in their dual wave-particle behaviors have been generated, a device-independent test of wave particle duality has been carried out. Single phase and multiphase estimations have been carried out in bulk optics and integrated device, respectively. Finally, Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) states of light have been generated and transmitted along special OAM carrying fiber.
Currently working on integrated photonic chip, focusing on new automatic characterization and new control method. He graduated in October 2019 at the Università of Pisa.
Currently working as PostDoc in the University of Innsbruck, he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma with a thesis on Implementation of integrated photonic experiments towards scalable quantum technologies. His activity as post-doc in Sapienza focused on the development of photonic technologies for quantum simulation and quantum communication protocols.
Currently investigating the implementation of photon-based Quantum Information protocols with a hybrid photonic architecture, comprising demultiplexed Quantum Dot sources and reconfigurable integrated photonic processors. He obtained his Ph.D. in January 2025, under the supervision of Prof. Sciarrino, with a thesis entitled "Hybrid Photonic Technologies for Quantum Information Tasks".
Job Titles:
- Lecturer
- Member of the Faculty
- Lecturer - Dipartimento Di Fisica
Gonzalo Carvacho graduated in 2014 at the University of Concepción. In 2017 he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma with a thesis on "Multiphoton hybrid systems and their applications in quantum information and quantum communication". After his PhD, he has been working as a post-doctoral researcher in the Quantum Information Lab. His research activities have been focused on foundational and practical implications of quantum causality with different photonic platforms.
Gonzalo Carvacho joined the University of Rome "La Sapienza" as a PhD student in November 2014. His PhD thesis entitled "Multiphoton hybrid systems and their applications in quantum information and quantum communication" was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Sciarrino and focused on experimental photonic protocols through several platforms.
Gonzalo obtained the Bachelor and Master's degree in Physics at the University of Concepcion (Chile) with a thesis focused on the experimental implementation and stabilization of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with optical fibers long 3.7 km. He also obtained a Physics Engineering Degree oriented on synthesis and characterization of semiconductor materials. His work at the time was followed by Prof. Xavier. Before he enrolled in the PhD program in Rome, Gonzalo worked as research assistant in the University of Concepcion and performed an internship in the Atomic Center of Bariloche (Argentina).
Currently his research activities are focused in Quantum causality, Quantum communication and multiphoton dynamics by exploiting bulk optics, photonic integrated devices and G/Q-plates for structured light.
Gonzalo Carvacho is author of 40 publications in scientific journals, including 1 Nature, 1 Nature Physics, 5 Nature Communications, 3 Science Advances and 3 Physical Review Letters, with an h-index 20 and overall citation of 1411 in Google scholar.
Currently working as research fellow on Quantum Optics and Metrology at University of Roma Tre, she received her DPhil from Oxford University. Her research as a post-doc in Sapienza focused mainly on quantum metrology and the study of structured light in dispersive media.
Iris Agresti graduated in November 2016 at Sapienza Università di Roma and, during her PhD program, which she finished in February 2020, she won a scholarship for a 3 months secondment, which she spent in the Quantum Information Theory group of prof. Antonio Acìn (ICFO, Barcelona). During her Post-Doc she worked on photonic technologies for quantum information processing tasks and quantum computation. In particular she worked on: quantum machine learning techniques for Boson Sampling validation and for the approximation of quantum state tomography; quantum causality for the design and experimental implementation of device-independent protocols, aimed to the study of quantum foundations as well as to more applicative tasks, as secure random numbers generation, and superposition of causal orders.
Job Titles:
- Senior Editor of Nature Commincations
Currently working as Senior Editor of Nature Commincations, he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma with a thesis on Boson Sampling. His activity as post-doc in Sapienza primarly focused on the use of integrated optical circuits for investigation of quantum information protocols and quantum simulation.
Mariana R. Barros graduated in 2008 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. In 2010 she received her master's degree from the same University and, in 2015, she received her doctorate degree at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, with an internship at the Université Paris Diderot -Sorbonne Paris Cité. She worked as a research assistant at National University of Singapore in 2010 and, after her Phd, she worked as a post-doctorate researcher at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (2017 - 2018), at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (2018 - 2019) and at the Univeristy of Naples Federico II, seconded at the Univeristy of Rome La Sapienza (2019-2021). She has experience in Physics, focusing on Quantum Optics, acting on the following subjects: Quantum Information, Modular Variables, Quantum Computation, Parametric Down Conversion and Integrated Quantum Optics.
Currently working at Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information in Vienna, he received his PhD in Sapienza. His activity as post-doc in Sapienza Università di Roma focused on developing quantum information and simulation protocols using path-polarization hyperentangled photons, focused in particular on quantum thermodynamics and cluster state manipulation and analysis.
The research activity of Mauro Valeri involved the study of quantum technology for quantum communication and Metrology. During his Ph.D., he developed integrated and bulk sources of entangled photons to be distributed in quantum networks and exploited for quantum information protocols. He is is author of 9 publications in scientific journals, including 1 Science Advances, 1 Nature Photonics, 1 Nature Communications, 1 Physical Review Applied, and 2 Optica with an h-index of 6 according to Google scholar.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the Faculty
- Associate Professor - Dipartimento Di Fisica
Nicolò Spagnolo graduated in 2008 at the Sapienza Università di Roma. In 2012 he received his PhD with a thesis on the generation, manipulation, and characterization of multiphoton quantum optical states, with applications in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and in quantum information protocols. His research activities have been focused on the experimental implementation of multiphoton quantum information and quantum simulations protocols with different photonic platforms. In particular, in the last few years he has carried out research on multiparameter estimation, and on implementation of Boson Sampling instances and their validation.
The research activity of Nicolò Spagnolo focused on the experimental implementation of quantum information and quantum simulations protocols with different photonic platforms. The research efforts during the PhD period focused on the generation, manipulation, and characterization of photonic quantum states, for their applications in fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and in quantum information protocols. The generation of multiphoton states through the process of optical parametric amplification has been investigated, in particular by showing their capabilities to increase the robustness to losses of phase estimation protocols.
Nicolò Spagnolo is author of 90 publications in scientific journals, including 4 Nature Photonics, 2 Science Advances, 6 Nature Communications, 1 Light:Science and Applications, 2 Physical Review X and 9 Physical Review Letters, with an h-index of 31 according to Web of Science (40 in Google scholar), with overall citation of 3499 in WoS (6082 in Google scholar).
Job Titles:
- Biology Application Specialist at Crisel Instruments
Santiago Gómez López holds a Bachelor's (B.A), a Master of Science (M.S.), and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Physics, conferred by the University of Concepción, Chile.
Currently working in Quantum Modelling at Cogisen, he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma as Marie Curie ITN fellow working on integrated photonic devices for quantum information and simulation experiments with use of quantum walks techniques, with parallel work in quantum sensing with superconducting single photon detectors.
Job Titles:
- Lecturer
- Member of the Faculty
Currently working on photonic devices for the implementation of boson sampling and its validation methods. She graduated in Nov 2016 at the Sapienza Università di Roma.
Job Titles:
- Lecturer
- Member of the Faculty
- Venue
Valeria Cimini received her Master degree in Physics in July 2016 at Sapienza Università di Roma. She did her PhD at the University of Roma Tre in the New Quantum Optics group under the supervision of Prof. Barbieri. After her PhD she joined the Quantum Information Lab with an Amaldi Research Center post-doctoral fellowship. She is currently working on Quantum Metrology projects and on the implementation of machine learning algorithms for the characterization and self-calibration of quantum photonic sensors with both single-photon and squeezed states.
Currently working as Researcher in the University of Naples "Federico II", he received his PhD in Sapienza Università di Roma with a thesis on Photonic high dimensional systems and their applications in fundamental quantum mechanics, quantum information and quantum communication. His activity as post-doc in Sapienza primarily focused on the orbital angular momentum of light and its applications in quantum information and communication.
He graduated in October 2023 in Sapienza University of Rome under the supervision of Prof. Fabio Sciarrino, with a thesis entitled "Quantum Randomness through Causal Modeling". Currently investigating the manipulation of orbital angular momentum in single photon states, and quantum metrology with squeezed states of light.
Job Titles:
- Group Leader
- Member of the Faculty
- Principal
- Principal Investigator of the Quantum Information Lab
Fabio Sciarrino is Principal Investigator of the Quantum Information Lab, Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome (www.quantumlab.it). His main expertise is experimental quantum optics, computation and quantum information, and foundations of quantum mechanics. In recent years his research activity has focused on the implementation of quantum information protocols via integrated photonic circuits. He has received several awards, including the "Le Scienze per la Fisica" Medal together with the "Medal of the Presidency of the Republic", the "Sapio Junior Award for Italian Research". He is author of more than 150 publications in international journals (with more than 25 publications on Nature and Science journals) and over 150 invited presentations to national and international conferences. He teaches the Optical Laboratory (3rd year Bachelor's Degree in Physics) and Quantum Information (2nd year Master's Degree in Physics).
Fabio Sciarrino is Principal Investigator of the Quantum Information Lab, Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome (www.quantumlab.it). His main expertise is experimental quantum optics, computation and quantum information, and foundations of quantum mechanics. In recent years his research activity has focused on the implementation of quantum information protocols via integrated photonic circuits, with particular interest for Boson Sampling, a non-universal computational model with promising characteristics to achieve the quantum supremacy regime.
In 2012 he was awarded an ERC-Starting Grant Consolidator funded by the European Research Council for his project on integrated quantum photonics (3D-QUEST) and later in 2015 of the ERC-Proof of Concept 3D-COUNT. He was European coordinator of the Marie Curie Network PICQUE project (Photonic Integrated Compound Quantum Encoding: www.picque.eu) of the Future and Emerging Technologies project QUCHIP (Photonics Quantum Simulator on a Chip: www.quchip.eu). He has received several awards, including the "Le Scienze per la Fisica" Medal together with the "Medal of the Presidency of the Republic" and the "Sapio Junior Award for Italian Research" (http://www.premiosapio.it/). In 2015 and in 2016 he was selected by the World Economic Forum as an Awarded Young Scientist to attend the Annual Meeting of the New Champions "Summer Davos" in China along with 40 other scientists from all over the world. He is author of more than 150 publications in international journals (with more than 25 publications on Nature and Science journals) and over 150 invited presentations to national and international conferences. He teaches the Optical Laboratory (3rd year Bachelor's Degree in Physics) and Quantum Information (2nd year Master's Degree in Physics). He is currently coordinator of the European FET Open Project PHOQUSING and has been awarded as principal investigator of ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grant QU-BOSS. He is leader of the Spoke "Photonic Platform for Quantum Technologies" of the Italian National Quantum Science and Technology Institute (www.nqsti.iit) Since January 2024 he is the coordinator of European Project EPIQUE (European Photonic Quantum Computer).
Graduated in October 2024 at Sapienza Università di Roma under the supervision of Prof. Fabio Sciarrino, with a thesis entitled "Quantum Machine Learning with Adaptive Boson Sampling". Currently investigating the experimental transition between boson sampling and universal quantum computing with photons, working with a photonic hybrid platform made up of a single photon source and a photonic integrated circuit.