Andrea Coladangelo

Andrea Coladangelo

I am an assistant professor at the University of Washington, Seattle since January 2023, where I co-lead the Quantum group at the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. I am also part of the Theory and Crypto groups. I direct the NSF-funded Quantum@UW REU program.

My research is in quantum information. Broadly, I try to understand what computational tasks can and cannot be carried out using quantum information. Recurring themes in my research include cryptography and the certification of quantum devices.

Short Bio: Before UW, I was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley and the Simons Institute, working with Umesh Vazirani. I obtained my PhD at Caltech, where I was fortunate to be advised by Thomas Vidick. In a previous life, I received a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Oxford and a Master in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. I co-founded qBraid, a cloud-based platform for learning quantum computing and developing quantum algorithms.

My research is generously supported by an NSF Career Award and a Google Research Scholar award in quantum computing.

News:

  • I'm co-organizing a workshop at FOCS 2026 on "Validation of quantum devices: from practice to theory". This will be Nov 8 in NYC (the Sunday before the conference begins).
  • Thankful to the NSF for an NSF Career award.
  • Congratulations to Er-Cheng on the Machtey Award for best student paper at FOCS 2025, for this work with Miryam Huang!
  • Welcome to new postdoc Joe Slote, and PhD students Nikos, Yiming, and Daniel!
  • Thankful to Google for a 2025 Research Scholar award in quantum computing.
  • Applications are open for the first cohort of our NSF-funded Quantum@UW REU summer program! Consider applying if you are an undergrad interested in experiencing research in quantum information (projects ranging from theory to experiments). Deadline is March 13.
  • I'm spending Fall quarter 2024 in Oxford, at the department of Computer Science.
  • I'm giving a lecture series at the 22nd Bellairs Crypto Workshop in Barbados (Mar 3-7 2024) titled "Random and pseudorandom quantum states: how to use them".

Selected and Recent Publications (view all)

  • The power of two bases: robust and copy-optimal certification of nearly all quantum states with few-qubit measurements [arXiv]
A. Coladangelo, J. Li, J. Slote, E. Wu. STOC 2026. 
  • A meta-complexity characterization of minimal quantum cryptography [arXiv]
B. Cavalar, B. Chen, A. Coladangelo, M. Gray, Z. Hu, Z. Ji, X. Li. STOC 2026, QIP 2026.
  • The power of a single Haar random state: constructing and separating quantum pseudorandomness [arXiv]
B. Chen, A. Coladangelo, O. Sattath. Eurocrypt 2025, QIP 2025, QCrypt 2024 (merged with arXiv:2407.07908).
  • A computational test of quantum contextuality, and even simpler proofs of quantumness [arXiv]
A. S. Arora, K. Bharti, A. Cojocaru, A. Coladangelo. FOCS 2024, QIP 2025.
  • Deniable Encryption in a Quantum World [arXiv]
A. Coladangelo, S. Goldwasser, U. Vazirani. STOC 2022.
  • One-way Functions Imply Secure Computation in a Quantum World [arXiv]
J. Bartusek, A. Coladangelo, D. Khurana, F. Ma. CRYPTO 2021, QIP 2022 (Long plenary talk), QCrypt 2021 (invited talk merged with arXiv:2011.14980).
  • Unconditional separation of finite and infinite-dimensional quantum correlations [arXiv]
A. Coladangelo, J. Stark. Nature Communications, QIP 2019 (Long plenary talk and best student paper award)

Service

Editor: Quantum (2020-2024)

Program Committees: QIP 2020, QCrypt 2021, QIP 2022, Quantum Crypto Workshop @ Asiacrypt 2023, QIP 2023, ITCS 2024, QCrypt 2024, TQC 2025, Eurocrypt 2026, FOCS 2026, QIP 2027 (area chair)