Professor Landi received his PhD from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2012. He was an assistant professor at UFABC (2013-2016), and at the University of São Paulo (2016-2022). He joined the University of Rochester in 2022 as an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He is also an associate editor at Physical Review Research, and a member of the Brazilian Physical Society.
Research overview
Professor Landi’s research is in the field of theoretical quantum information sciences and technologies. He is a specialist in the field of open quantum systems, with applications to quantum thermodynamics, quantum transport and quantum metrology. In particular, his research focuses on reformulating the laws of thermodynamics, and concepts such as resource expenditure and irreversibility, within a quantum-coherent context. Prof. Landi also specializes in the statistical description of quantum trajectories, combining the tools of quantum mechanics with stochastic processes. The research aims to address fundamental questions, as well as propose novel applications in quantum sensing, energy harvesting devices and quantum computing.
Research interests
- Theory of open quantum systems.
- Quantum stochastic processes.
- Quantum thermodynamics.
- Quantum information theory.
- Quantum metrology.
Motivation
Thermodynamics constitutes one of the pillars of natural sciences, describing diverse concepts from the arrow of time to the efficiency of engines and motors. Above all, thermodynamics is a pragmatic theory: it offers clear and simple guidelines on which process can or cannot happen. However, in order to accomplish this, it relies on a few very strong assumptions. Most importantly is the notion of emergent phenomena, that take place when dealing with a macroscopically large number of particles. In essence, thermodynamics describes systems which are so unbearably complicated that they actually become simple; while a system of 50 particles may rely on all its degrees of freedom to be described, a system with 10^(23) relies only on a handful, such as energy, pressure and entropy.
In view of its simplicity and success, it becomes natural to ask whether the laws of thermodynamics can also be extended to other scenarios. That is, whether there exist systems that lie beyond the standard thermodynamic paradigm but which nonetheless enjoy a similarly simple and powerful set of rules. In the last four decades this question has been partially addressed in the micro- and mesoscopic regime. Initially it was believed that microscopic systems were simply not thermodynamic. However, it is now known that a consistent theoretical framework can be built, provided one interprets thermodynamic quantities such as heat and work as random variables, subject to fluctuations that are inherent of small systems. This field is called stochastic thermodynamics and has been remarkably successful in describing a diverse set of systems and processes, from biological engines to nanoscale junctions.
Small systems should also be subject to the rules of quantum mechanics. However, due to the phenomena of decoherence, most quantum phenomena never manifest themselves in practice. Effects such as entanglement and superposition are fragile, being quickly lost due to the contact between the system and its surroundings. This has been the main motivation behind the so-called quantum coherent platforms: systems in which the effects of the environment can be controlled to shield it from decoherence. Examples include superconducting circuits, optomechanical devices, trapped ions, ultra-cold atoms and so on. In such systems, classical effects such as heat flow can be combined with quantum effects, such as entanglement, to produce exciting new phenomena.
The remarkable progress in quantum coherent experiments is the main drive behind the field of quantum thermodynamics. The laws developed in stochastic thermodynamics now have to be updated to include such novel features. Quantities such as entanglement now play the role of an informational resource, which in this regime can be combined with standard energetic resources such as heat and work. Such resources can be consumed to perform thermodynamic tasks or interconverted from one another. In addition, the backaction from quantum measurements (“wavefunction collapse”) also plays a central role. This backaction makes quantum thermodynamics extrinsic; i.e., dependent not only on the process itself, but also on the way the experimenter chooses the probe that process.
Absolutely central to thermodynamics is the second law and the concept of entropy production. Entropy does not satisfy a continuity equation, in the sense that the entropy leaving one system does not have to equal the entropy entering another. In addition to possible entropy flows, there may also be some entropy which is irreversibly produced during the process. Since entropy can only flow or be created, the net entropy is always an increasing function of time. Since this imposes constraints on which kinds of processes may occur, it has both a foundational significance, concerning the arrow of time, as well a practical one, providing guidelines on how to design better devices.
Goals
The overarching goal of my research is to formulate a set of operationally useful laws of thermodynamics in the quantum regime. These should contemplate informational and energetic resources on equal footing and also account for the measurement backaction. Moreover, it should also recover stochastic thermodynamics in the classical limit. My research has revolved, in particular, around the question of how to formulate the second law in the quantum regime. To date, the most prolific approach has been to connect entropy production with information-theoretic quantities. Information theory views probabilities and quantum states as descriptions of the amount of information one has about a system, as well as the amount of information shared between two or more systems. Entropy production can then viewed as a measure of how much information the system shares with its surroundings. And irreversibility emerges from the fact that this information is seldom retrievable, specially when the environment is large.
Viewing the second law in this way opens up many exciting perspectives. First, it allows for a unified description of heat and information engines (such as Maxwell’s demons or Szilard engines). Second, it places Landauer’s principle on information erasure on equal footing as work extraction or related tasks that are common in e.g. biological systems. Third, it naturally encompasses the effect of the measurement backaction, which disturbs the information shared between system and environment.
In light of this, some of the questions that I have recently addressed and which I plan to continue examining in the near future, include:
- Thermodynamic Uncertainty Relations.
- Continuously monitored quantum systems.
- Thermometry at the quantum regime.
- Collisional models.
- Fully quantum fluctuation theorems.
- Thermodynamics in quantum phase space.
- Entropy production at criticality.
You can also browse through our list of publications or click here for accessing the research project of each student in the group.
List of previous collaborators:
Adalberto D. Varizi Universidade de São Paulo
Adam Hewgill Queen’s University in Belfast
Adam Hammoumi Université de Lorraine
Albert Schliesser Niels Bohr Institute
Alberto L. de Paula Jr Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Alessio Belenchia Universität Tübingen
Alessandra Chioquetta Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Alexandre M. Souza Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Alessandro Ferraro Queen’s University in Belfast
Alexssandre de Oliveira Junior Technical University of Denmark
Alice Caroline de Oliveira Vianak Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Alvaro M. Alhambra Instituto de Física Teórica, CSIC
André P. Vieira Universidade de São Paulo
André Timpanaro Universidade Federal do ABC
Andris Bakuzis Universidade Federal de Goiás
Antônio C. Lourenço Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Antônio Carlos Seabra Universidade de São Paulo
Antonio Domingues dos Santos Universidade de São Paulo
Anthony Kiely University College Dublin
Archak Purkayastha Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad
Artur M. Lacerda, Trinity College Dublin
Augusto J. Roncaglia Universidad de Buenos Aires
Benjamin Morris, Nottingham University
Brendan Reid Queen’s University in Belfast
Bruno O. Goes Universidade de São Paulo
Carlos E. Fiore Universidade de São Paulo
Carlos Fernándes Noa Universidade de São Paulo
Cecília Cormick Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
Claudio Verdozzi Lund University
Daniel R. Cornejo Universidade de São Paulo
Daniel Grimmer University of Waterloo
Dario Poletti Singapore University of Technology and Design
Domingos Salazar Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
Dragi Karevski Université de Lorraine
Dvira Segal University of Toronto
Eduardo Duzzioni Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Elias Nyholm Lund University
Emmanuel Pereira Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Enrique Solano University of the Basque Country
Eoin O'Connor University College Dublin
Eric Lutz Stuttgart University
Eva Natividad Universidad de Zaragoza
Fabiana Arantes Universidade de São Paulo
Fabrício S. Luiz Universidade de Campinas
Felipe Barra Universidad de Chile
Felipe Fernandes Fanchini Universidade Estadual de São Paulo
Federico Roccati University of Palermo
Felix Binder Trinity College Dublin
Fernando Semião Universidade Federal do ABC
Filipe V. Melo Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Florian Meier TU Wien
Francesco Ciccarello University of Palermo
Franklin L. S. Rodrigues Universidade de São Paulo
Frederico Brito Technology Innovation Institute
Gabriel Aguilar Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Gabriele de Chiara Queen’s University in Belfast
Gabriel Oliveira Alves Max Planck Inst. for the Phys. of Comp. Systems
George Moreno Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Gernot Schaller Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf
Giacomo Guarnieri University of Pavia
Giancarlo Camilo Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Gerardo Adesso Nottingham University
Gonzalo Manzano IFISC
Guilherme Fiusa University of Rochester
Heitor P. Casagrande Universidade de São Paulo
Irene Andreu Universidad de Zaragoza
Ivan Medina Trinity College Dublin
Ivan Oliveira Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Itzhak Roditi Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Jader P. Santos Universidade de São Paulo
Jason Hoelscher-Obermaier University of Vienna
Jens Eisert Freie Universität Berlin
Joab Morais Varela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
John Goold Trinity College Dublin
John P. S. Peterson Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Jonatan B. Brask Technical University of Denmark
Jorge Noronha University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Joseph A. Smiga University of Rochester
Juan Parrondo Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Kacper Prech Basel University
Kaonan Micadei Stuttgart University
Karen Hovhannisyan University of Potsdam
Kavan Modi Monash University
Krissia Zawadzki Universidade Federal de São Carlos
Ladislau Vieira Teixeira Tavares Universidade Estadual de Londrina
Laetitia P. Bettmann Trinity College Dublin
Luca Mancino Queen’s University in Belfast
Lucas Céleri Universidade Federal de Goiás
Lucas Schuab Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Luis Correa Universidad de La Laguna
Luis F. Santos Universidade de São Paulo
Marcelo A. F. Santos Universidade Estadual Paulista
Malte Henkel Université de Lorraine
Marcelo Henrique Sousa Universidade de Brasília
Marcelo Janovitch Basel University
Marco Radaelli Trinity College Dublin
Marlon Brenes University of Toronto
Matteo Brunelli Basel University
Marcos S. Carrião Universidade Federal de Goiás
Mark Mitchison Trinity College Dublin
Mariana A. Cipolla Universidade de São Paulo
Mario José de Oliveira Universidade de São Paulo
Martí Perarnau-Llobet University of Geneva
Massimo Palma University of Palermo
Massimiliano Esposito University of Luxembourg
Massimiliano Rossi Niels Bohr Institute
Mauriıcio Hippert University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Mauro Antezza Université de Montpellier
Mauro Paternostro University of Palermo
Mathias R. Jørgensen Technical University of Denmark
Michael Kewming Trinity College Dublin
Michele Coppola Université de Lorraine
Mikel Sanz University of the Basque Country
Nahum Sá Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Naim Elias Comar Universidade de São Paulo
Nicole Yunger Halpern NIST
Nikolai Kiesel University of Vienna
Nuriya Nurgalieva University of Zurich
Oisín Culhane Trinity College Dublin
Otavio A. D. Molitor Universidade de São Paulo
Paula F. Bienzobaz Universidade Estadual de Londrina
Paulo Henrique Souto Ribeiro Federal University of Santa Catarina
Patrick Potts Basel University
Pedro H. Guimarães Universidade de São Paulo
Pedro R. S. Gomes Universidade Estadual de Londrina
Pedro Harunari Universidade de São Paulo
Peter Samuelsson Lund University
Philip Johansson Lund University
Rafael Chaves Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Ralph Silva ETH Zürich
Ranieri Nery Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Raphael Drumond Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Renate Landig ETH Zürich
Roberto Sarthour Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas
Roberto Serra Universidade Federal do ABC
Rodolfo Soldati University of Waterloo
Rodrigo S. Piera Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Rolando Ramirez Camasca Universidade de São Paulo
Salvatore Lorenzo University of Palermo
Samuel L. Jacob Trinity College Dublin
Sascha Wald Université de Lorraine
Saulo H. S. Silva Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Sebas Eliëns Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
Sergio Romero Universidade de São Paulo
Stefan Nimmrichter University of Siegen
Stefano Gherardini University of Florence
Stefano Scopa Université de Lorraine
Stella Seah National University of Singapore
Stephen Clark Bristol University
Steve Campbell University College Dublin
Susane Calegari Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Tania Tomé Universidade de São Paulo
Thaís L. Silva Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Thiago E. Guimarães Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Thiago O. Maciel Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Thomás Fogarty Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Tiago B. Batalhão Universidade Federal do ABC
Tiago Debarba Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná
Tobias Donner ETH Zürich
Twesh Upadhyaya University of Maryland College Park
Valerio Scarani National University of Singapore
Victor Raul Romero Aquino Universidade Federal de Goiás
Wellington L. Ribeiro Universidade Federal do ABC
William T. B. Malouf Universidade de São Paulo
William F. Braasch, Jr. University of Maryland College Park
Witlef Wieczorek Chalmers University
