Alexei Kitaev
Alexei Kitaev
Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics
Dipl., Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 1986; Ph.D., Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, 1989. Visiting Associate, Caltech, 1998-99; Lecturer, 1998-99; Senior Research Associate, 2001-02; Professor, 2002-13; Linde Professor, 2013-.
Research Interests: Topological quantum phases and related mathematics, Quantum holography, Protected qubits
Overview
I am a theoretical physicist sometimes drifted away into mathematics. One of my old ideas is how to encode quantum information and protect it from noise using "topological" many-body systems, for example, the Majorana chain. Now I am trying to find the mathematical structures that would describe all, or some well-defined class of, such topological quantum phases. I am also interested in the black hole information paradox and have recently found a simple Hamiltonian with many properties of a quantum black hole.
Selected Awards
- Frontiers of Science Award in Physics, The soft mode in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and its gravity dual, 2026
- Basic Science Lifetime Award, International Congress of Basic Science, China, 2024
- Henry Poincare Prize, International Association of Mathematical Physics, 2024
- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 2021
- Oliver E. Buckley Prize, American Physical Society, 2017
- Dirac Medal, International Centre for Theorethical Physics, 2015
- Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation, 2012
- MacArthur Fellow, MacArthur Foundation, 2008
Selected Awards
- Frontiers of Science Award in Physics, The soft mode in the Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and its gravity dual, 2026
- Basic Science Lifetime Award, International Congress of Basic Science, China, 2024
- Henry Poincare Prize, International Association of Mathematical Physics, 2024
- Elected to the National Academy of Sciences, 2021
- Oliver E. Buckley Prize, American Physical Society, 2017
- Dirac Medal, International Centre for Theorethical Physics, 2015
- Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, Fundamental Physics Prize Foundation, 2012
- MacArthur Fellow, MacArthur Foundation, 2008
Related News
Read more newsRelated Courses
Ph/CS 219 abc. Quantum Computation.
9 units (3-0-6); first, second, third terms, 2025-26.
Prerequisites: Ph 125 ab or equivalent.
The theory of quantum information and quantum computation. Overview of classical information theory, compression of quantum information, transmission of quantum information through noisy channels, quantum error-correcting codes, quantum cryptography and teleportation. Overview of classical complexity theory, quantum complexity, efficient quantum algorithms, fault-tolerant quantum computation, physical implementations of quantum computation.
Instructors: Kitaev, Preskill
Instructors: Kitaev, Preskill