CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS

ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES PHYSICIENS ET PHYSICIENNES

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2006 Herzberg Medal is awarded to Dr. Aephraim Steinberg, University of Toronto for seminal experimental and theoretical work on superluminal effects, entanglement of more than two photons, Bose-Einstein condensation of cold atoms, and quantum information.

Aephraim Steinberg works at the forefront of experimental quantum optics and quantum information. He is internationally known for his seminal work, both experimental and theoretical, on “superluminal” effects in tunneling and optical propagation, as well as for his ongoing projects using ultracold atoms and entangled photons to study the subtle mysteries of quantum mechanics along with their potential applications to information processing. His group has carried out a long list for “firsts”, including complete characterization of the quantum evolution of a photon pair, demonstration that a new class of measurement may perform certain tasks twice as efficiently as textbook-style measurements, implementation of a quantum computing algorithm in the presence of noise using “decoherence-free subspaces”, scalable generation of entanglement for more than 2 photons, complete determination of the quantum state of trapped atoms, and the creation of an all-optical 2-photon switch. At the same time, he has earned wide recognition for his creative work on foundational issues in quantum mechanics, such as the use of “weak measurements” to describe the state of a system defined both by its preparation of early times and by a selection procedure at late times, and their application to addressing long-standing “paradoxes” of quantum mechanics. Simultaneously running a laser-cooling laboratory, which recently achieved Bose-Einstein condensation and a down-conversion laboratory with state-of-the-art facilities for manipulating entangled photons, Steinberg has rapidly become a world leader in two major areas of quantum physics.

The CAP Herzberg Medal was first introduced in 1970 and is awarded annually. Dr. Steinberg will receive the 2006 Prize during the CAP's awards banquet to be held in St. Catharines on June 13th, 2006.

The Canadian Association of Physicists, founded in 1945, is a professional association representing over 1600 individual physicists and physics students in Canada, the U.S. and overseas, as well as a number of Corporate and Departmental Members. In addition to its learned activities, the CAP also undertakes a number of activities intended to encourage students to pursue a career in physics.

For more information, please contact:

Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@physics.uottawa.ca