Quantum Exam Revision

Dr Gerardo Adesso's work on quantum correlations has recently featured in an article on the popular science news site phys.org. The site reports how Dr Adesso's work to develop highly sensitive measurement devices as part of the 'quantum technology' drive can be compared to the way in which a student can best prepare for the possibility of a difficult question appearing on an exam. Dr Adesso explains: "Alice is reviewing for an exam, helped by her friend Bob. How can she make sure she will be prepared to answer even the hardest question? We solve this problem here: she needs to share quantum correlations with Bob in the first place, of a general type which can manifest even in the absence of entanglement."

The work aims to explain the best way to prepare a quantum system in order to obtain the highest degree of precision possible needed to develop new measurement devices. The paper has been published by Physical Review Letters and is the Editor's Suggestion. 

A quantum system is a model of objects and their interactions with each other and the surrounding environment used when examining very small (atomic) scales. Dr Adesso studies quantum correlations, which examines the outcomes when a quantum system changes as it interacts with something, and the probability of one outcome versus another. This is an important consideration for developing quantum technologies (e.g. superfast computers, high-sensitivity measurement devices like thermometers or clocks) since on very small scales, even a slight change to the set up can drastically change the outcome, so being able to accurately predict outcomes enables you to best prepare for the result you want.