Antonio Acín Dal Maschio is a Spanish theoretical physicist, currently an

ICREA ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, is a foundation jointly promoted by the Catalan Government through its Department of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI) ...

professor at

ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences (in Catalan language, Catalan: ''Institut de Ciències Fotòniques'', in Spanish language, Spanish: ''Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas'') is a research center devoted to the science and technology of l ...

Castelldefels Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017). Geography and location ...

, near

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Research interests

Acín's primary research interest lies in

quantum information theory Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...

, with a particular focus on entanglement characterization and

quantum nonlocality In theoretical physics, quantum nonlocality refers to the phenomenon by which the measurement statistics of a multipartite quantum system do not allow an interpretation with local realism. Quantum nonlocality has been experimentally verified unde ...

. He is also involved in developing

quantum communication In quantum information theory, a quantum channel is a communication channel that can transmit quantum information, as well as classical information. An example of quantum information is the general dynamics of a qubit. An example of classical in ...

protocols, emphasizing

quantum cryptography Quantum cryptography is the science of exploiting quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks. The best known example of quantum cryptography is quantum key distribution, which offers an information-theoretically secure soluti ...

and

randomness In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of definite pattern or predictability in information. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. ...

Education

Antonio Acín received his undergraduate education in both

Telecommunication Engineering Telecommunications engineering is a subfield of electronics engineering which seeks to design and devise systems of communication at a distance. The work ranges from basic circuit design to strategic mass developments. A telecommunication engin ...

at the

Polytechnic University of Catalonia The Polytechnic University of Catalonia (, , ; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest polytechnic university in Catalonia, Spain. UPC's objectives are based on internationalization, as it is one of Europe's techni ...

from 1990 to 1997 and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

from 1993 to 1997. He then pursued his doctoral studies at the University of Barcelona and earned his

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Theoretical Physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

in 2001.

Research career

Antonio Acín began his research career as a post-doctoral researcher at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

's GAP-Optique with

Nicolas Gisin Nicolas Gisin (born 1952) is a Swiss physicist and professor at the University of Geneva, working on the foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum information, and communication. His work includes both experimental and theoretical physics. He has ...

from October 2001 to March 2003, focusing on theoretical aspects of

quantum information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...

. In April 2003, he moved to

, where he continued his post-doctoral work until December 2004. Acín then transitioned into a faculty position at ICFO, serving as an assistant professor from January 2005 to December 2007. He was subsequently promoted to Professor in January 2008. Later that year in September 2008, Acín was appointed as an

Professor at

. Acín's research has been recognized with several grants and awards, such as the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

(ERC) Advanced Grant CERQUTE (2020-2024), ERC Consolidator Grant QITBOX (2014-2019), ERC Proof-of-Concept MAMBO (2012-2013), and ERC Starting Grant PERCENT (2008-2013). He was also awarded the

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

Chair in Quantum Information Science, the prize “

La Recherche ''La Recherche'' is a monthly French language popular science magazine covering recent scientific news. It is published by the Société d'éditions scientifiques (the ''Scientific Publishing Group''), a subsidiary of Financière Tallandier. Tallan ...

” in 2011 and the

Paul Ehrenfest Paul Ehrenfest (; 18 January 1880 – 25 September 1933) was an Austrian Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist who made major contributions to statistical mechanics and its relation to quantum physics, quantum mechanics, including the theory ...

Best Paper Award for Quantum Foundations in 2018 and 2022. Acín has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of several research institutes, including the

Centre for Quantum Technologies The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) in Singapore is a Research Centre of Excellence hosted by the National University of Singapore. The Centre brings together physicists, computer scientists and engineers to do basic research on quantum ph ...

in Singapore, the

Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information The Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI; ) is a member institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and was founded in November 2003, to create an Austrian research center for the newly developing fields of theoretical a ...

in Vienna, and the International Advisory Council of the International Institute of Physics in Natal.

Popular Science Work

Antonio Acín has been involved in promoting scientific understanding among the general public. He has given a number of educational talks aimed at non-scientists and written several popular science articles. He is also the author of a book.

Selected publications

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References