Daniel Lidar
Encyclopedia
Daniel A. Lidar is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Chemistry, and the Director and co-founder of the USC
Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology
(CQIST), notable for his research on control of quantum systems and quantum information processing.
. He received his B.Sc. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
in 1989, performed national service from 1989–1993, received his M.Sc. in 1993, and obtained his PhD under Robert Benny Gerber and Ofer Biham
, 1997, with a thesis entitled Structural Characterization of Disordered Systems also from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
.
fellowships (the latter of which he declined); in 2000-2005, he was an assistant professor and then later an associate professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto
, with cross-appointments in Physics and Mathematics. While at Berkeley, he was a collaborator with Magiq Technologies
and while at Toronto he collaborated with D-Wave Systems
. He moved to the University of Southern California
in 2005 as an associate professor of Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, with a cross-appointment in Physics. Lidar's research interests lie primarily in the theory and control of open quantum systems, with a special emphasis on quantum information processing. His past interests include scattering theory
and fractals.
for the top 20 researchers in Canada under age 40, and the John Charles Polanyi
Prize in Chemistry awarded by the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. He is a 2007 Fellow of the American Physical Society
and Senior Member of the IEEE. He is listed as one of the top 20 authors of the decade 2000-2009 in Quantum Computing by Thomson Reuters
' Sciencewatch. In 2009 he was elected an Outstanding Referee of the American Physical Society
.
, most notably his widely cited paper "Decoherence-free subspaces for quantum computation", and their generalization, noiseless subsystems. These contributions were noted in his APS Fellow citation. He has also made major contributions to dynamical decoupling, in particular the invention (with his student Kaveh Khodjasteh) of the concatenated dynamical decoupling (CDD) method. He has made a proposal to protect adiabatic quantum computation
against decoherence, using dynamical decoupling, one of the only proposals to date dealing with error correction for the adiabatic model. Lidar has also worked on quantum algorithms, having written some of the pioneering papers in the subject on simulation of classical statistical mechanics and quantum chemistry. In his Ph.D. work he made a widely cited observation on the limited scaling range of empirically observed fractals, which led to a lively exchange with Benoit Mandelbrot
.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology
Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology
The Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology is a Multi-School Organized Research Unit at the University of Southern California. Its mission is to advance fundamental experimental and theoretical knowledge in areas of Engineering and Physical Science relevant to Quantum Information...
(CQIST), notable for his research on control of quantum systems and quantum information processing.
Education
He is class of 1986 graduate of the Armand Hammer United World College of the American WestArmand Hammer United World College of the American West
The United World College-USA is a United World College founded in 1982 by industrialist and philanthropist Armand Hammer. It is a two-year, independent, coeducational boarding school with about 200 students representing 80-90 countries at any time...
. He received his B.Sc. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
in 1989, performed national service from 1989–1993, received his M.Sc. in 1993, and obtained his PhD under Robert Benny Gerber and Ofer Biham
Ofer Biham
Ofer Biham is a faculty member at the Racah Institute of Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Biham received his Ph.D. for research on quasiperiodic systems at the Weizmann Institute of Science, under the supervision of Prof...
, 1997, with a thesis entitled Structural Characterization of Disordered Systems also from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
.
Career
In 1997-2000, he was a postdoc at UC Berkeley, having been awarded Rothschild Foundation and Fulbright ProgramFulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
fellowships (the latter of which he declined); in 2000-2005, he was an assistant professor and then later an associate professor of Chemistry at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, with cross-appointments in Physics and Mathematics. While at Berkeley, he was a collaborator with Magiq Technologies
Quantum cryptography
Quantum key distribution uses quantum mechanics to guarantee secure communication. It enables two parties to produce a shared random secret key known only to them, which can then be used to encrypt and decrypt messages...
and while at Toronto he collaborated with D-Wave Systems
D-Wave Systems
D-Wave Systems, Inc. is a quantum computing company, based in Burnaby, British Columbia. On May 11, 2011, D-Wave System announced D-Wave One, labeled "the world's first commercially available quantum computer," and also referred to it as an adiabatic quantum computer using quantum annealing to...
. He moved to the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 2005 as an associate professor of Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, with a cross-appointment in Physics. Lidar's research interests lie primarily in the theory and control of open quantum systems, with a special emphasis on quantum information processing. His past interests include scattering theory
Scattering theory
In mathematics and physics, scattering theory is a framework for studying and understanding the scattering of waves and particles. Prosaically, wave scattering corresponds to the collision and scattering of a wave with some material object, for instance sunlight scattered by rain drops to form a...
and fractals.
Honors
He is the recipient of a number of awards and honors, including a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Young Explorer Award given by the Canadian Institute for Advanced ResearchCanadian Institute for Advanced Research
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research enables Canadian researchers to work on international research teams that are custom built to transform their fields of study...
for the top 20 researchers in Canada under age 40, and the John Charles Polanyi
John Charles Polanyi
John Charles Polanyi, PC, CC, FRSC, O.Ont, FRS, born January 23, 1929) is a Canadian chemist who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his research in chemical kinetics. Polanyi was educated at Manchester University, and did postdoctoral research at the National Research Council in Canada and...
Prize in Chemistry awarded by the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. He is a 2007 Fellow of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
and Senior Member of the IEEE. He is listed as one of the top 20 authors of the decade 2000-2009 in Quantum Computing by Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
' Sciencewatch. In 2009 he was elected an Outstanding Referee of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
.
Research
Lidar's research in quantum information processing has focused primarily on methods for overcoming decoherence. He wrote some of the founding papers on decoherence-free subspacesDecoherence-free subspaces
A decoherence-free subspace is a subspace of a system's Hilbert space that is invariant to non-unitary dynamics. Alternatively stated, they are a small section of the system Hilbert space where the system is decoupled from the environment and thus its evolution is completely unitary. DFSs can also...
, most notably his widely cited paper "Decoherence-free subspaces for quantum computation", and their generalization, noiseless subsystems. These contributions were noted in his APS Fellow citation. He has also made major contributions to dynamical decoupling, in particular the invention (with his student Kaveh Khodjasteh) of the concatenated dynamical decoupling (CDD) method. He has made a proposal to protect adiabatic quantum computation
Adiabatic quantum computation
Adiabatic quantum computation relies on the adiabatic theorem to do calculations. First, a complex Hamiltonian is found whose ground state describes the solution to the problem of interest. Next, a system with a simple Hamiltonian is prepared and initialized to the ground state. Finally, the...
against decoherence, using dynamical decoupling, one of the only proposals to date dealing with error correction for the adiabatic model. Lidar has also worked on quantum algorithms, having written some of the pioneering papers in the subject on simulation of classical statistical mechanics and quantum chemistry. In his Ph.D. work he made a widely cited observation on the limited scaling range of empirically observed fractals, which led to a lively exchange with Benoit Mandelbrot
Benoît Mandelbrot
Benoît B. Mandelbrot was a French American mathematician. Born in Poland, he moved to France with his family when he was a child...
.
See also
- Quantum Aspects of Life (book)Quantum Aspects of LifeQuantum Aspects of Life is a 2008 science text, with a foreword by Sir Roger Penrose, which notably explores the open question of the role of quantum mechanics at molecular scales of relevance to biology. The book adopts a debate-like style and contains chapters written by various world-experts;...
- "Attack of the quantum worms", New ScientistNew ScientistNew Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, 29 October 2005, pp. 30–33 - "Single field shapes quantum bits", Technology Research News, November 3/10, 2004
- "Sturdy quantum computing demoed", Technology Research News, April 7/14, 2004
- "World Computations", Lifestyles Magazine Vol. 31, No. 182, 2002, pp. 38–40 (an interview)
- "Quantum Protection", NSERC Newsbureau Bulletin No. 46, published April 25, 2002
- "A quantum leap in the way computers think", Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, March 28, 2002, National Report section - "Alternative quantum bits go natural", Technology Research News, April 2001
- "Quantum Computers", Chemical & Engineering NewsChemical & Engineering NewsChemical & Engineering News is a weekly magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical information in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering...
cover story, November 2000 - "Haven for Quantum Computation", ScienceScience (journal)Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, Editor’s Choice, September 2000 - "Quantum Computing for Chemists", New ScientistNew ScientistNew Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, August 1998