CAP Medal Press Release - 2011 Herzberg

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2011 CAP Herzberg Medal is awarded to Alexandre Blais, Université de Sherbrooke, in recognition of for his outstanding contributions to the field of quantum information processing particularly the concept of superconducting qubits based on circuit quantum electrodynamics. announcement

The exciting new field of superconducting circuit quantum electrodymamics (circuit QED) represents a new platform for quantum computing but, perhaps more importantly, it represents a revolution for the field of quantum measurement and control and a new high frontier for quantum optics. Alexandre Blais was first author on the theoretical paper that gave birth to that field, circuit QED, one of the leading architectures for quantum computation. Since that pioneering work, circuit QED has already led to the first experimental realization of simple quantum algorithms in prototype solid-state quantum computers. Blais has continued without interruption to be a leader for new developments in that field, working in close collaboration with experimental groups in the USA, Europe and Japan. He established that circuit QED can realize regimes of cavity QED currently unexplored in atomic physics, such as the ultra-strong coupling regime. His most recent work represents a new approach to measurements that are possible in circuit QED. It achieves for this new field what the theory of photodetection by Glauber and Mandel did for quantum optics many decades ago. In both cases a significant theoretical advance was informed by actual experimental practice.

After his PhD in 2003, Blais earned an NSERC postdoctoral research fellowship to work at Yale University until 2005. He joined the Université de Sherbrooke in 2006 where he started a research group on the physics of quantum information that now has 4 faculty members and about 20 graduate students and postdocs. Winner of the Sloan Research Fellowship in 2008 and of a NSERC E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowship in 2010, Blais is a member of three programs of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. nominator citation

The CAP Herzberg medal is awarded for outstanding achievement in any field of research by a Canadian physicist who has successfully defended their doctoral thesis within the last 12 years at the time of the award, excluding an allowance of one year per child for parental leave. The CAP Herzberg Medal was first introduced in 1970 and is awarded annually. Prior to 2011, the medal was awarded for outstanding achievement by a Canadian physicist under the age of 40.

Dr. Blais will be presented with the 2011 CAP Herzberg Medal at the 2011 CAP Congress (hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland, from June 13-17) at the end of his plenary talk and will be recognized during the Congress banquet to be held on Thursday, June 16th, 2011. Please refer to the Congress program for the schedule of plenary talks by CAP medal winners. medal description

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, Institutional, 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. cap description

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For more information, please contact:

Canadian Association of Physicists
Tel: (613) 562-5614
Fax: (613) 562-5615
E-mail: cap@uottawa.cacap contact and joint contact

The 2011 CAP Herzberg Medal

Alexandre Blais