Plenary Lecture: Rosario Lo Franco

Quantum metrology is the study of making high-resolution and highly sensitive measurements of physical parameters using quantum effects of the employed systems, which enable to supersede purely classical approaches. Apart the fundamental Heisenberg uncertainty relation valid at the quantum scale, the accuracy of most standard measurement techniques is limited by typical noise sources, such as the environmentinduced noise from vacuum fluctuations (the so-called shot noise limit) affecting the estimation of the electromagnetic field amplitude, and the dynamically-induced noise in the position measurement of a free mass (the so-called standard quantum limit). These conventional bounds to measurement performance are avoidable in principle, since they stem from a nonoptimal measurement strategy and do not have a fundamental character. Emerging quantum technology, exploiting quantum mechanical features as useful resources, provides measurement strategies which outperform the limitations of classical ones and thus beat the standard limits.
This talk has the aim of presenting the very basic ideas behind quantum metrology. Examples of how quantum traits like entanglement and squeezing can enhance measurement precision, from phase difference in interferometry to positioning and gravitational wave detection, will be discussed.

After his PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Palermo, Rosario held positions at the University of Catania, the National Interuniversity Consortium for the Physical Sciences of Matter (CNISM), the University of Nottingham and University of São Paulo. He is currently researcher, professor of Physics and member of the doctorate board at the Department of Engineering of the University of Palermo, Italy. He leads a research team on various aspects related to quantum correlations and open quantum systems within a quantum information scenario.
Rosario is member of the Editorial Board of the journals Scientific Reports (Springer Nature) and Applied Sciences (MDPI), and is Associate Editor in Chief of the journal Entropy (MDPI) for the section Quantum Information. He co-organized a Discussion Meeting at the Royal Society and is often a speaker at popular events to disseminate academic research. His main research contributions concern the dynamics of quantum correlations and entanglement in open systems and most recently the characterisation of composite systems of indistinguishable particles.
More info at: rosariolofranco.weebly.com