4 July 2019

Quantum information pioneer to be awarded honorary doctorate

Award

Charles H. Bennett of IBM, a pioneer of quantum information science, will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Copenhagen on 8 November 2019 upon recommendation of the Department of Mathematics.

Charles H. Bennett

Charles H. Bennett has made a series of foundational contributions that led to the creation of the field of quantum information science. In 1984 he invented (together with Gilles Brassard) quantum cryptography. The famous communication protocols known as BB84 showed that Shannon's no-go theorem for perfectly secure encryption can be circumvented by sending quantum states of light.

With colleagues, he also gave a method for sending quantum states by use of quantum entanglement and classical information only. Inspired by the Star Trek series, this is known as quantum teleportation since the quantum state disappears at one place and reappears at the other place.

Prior to founding quantum information science, Charles Bennett solved Maxwell's demon problem from thermodynamics and at present, he is working on information paradoxes on the scale of the universe.

Charles H. Bennett is considered the father of the quantum information science community both through his seminal contributions to the field, but also through fostering a collaborate and inclusive spirit.

QMATH, together with the Niels Bohr International Academy, hosted Charles Bennett last year for an extended stay (during which he made a trip to Israel to accept the Wolf prize). In conjunction with him receiving the honorary degree of Copenhagen University later this year, he will again visit MATH and NBI for three months.

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