| John Preskill | |
|---|---|
| Name | John Preskill |
| Birth date | 1953 |
| Birth place | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Fields | Theoretical physics, Quantum information science, Quantum computing, High-energy physics |
| Workplaces | California Institute of Technology (Caltech); Institute for Quantum Information and Matter |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (B.A.), Harvard University (Ph.D.) |
| Doctoral advisor | Steven Weinberg |
| Known for | Quantum error correction, Topological quantum computation, contributions to Quantum field theory |
John Preskill
John Preskill is an American theoretical physicist known for foundational contributions to quantum information science and quantum computing, and for work bridging high-energy quantum field theory and information-theoretic perspectives. He is notable as a professor at the California Institute of Technology and as the founding director of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, where he shaped research linking condensed matter physics, quantum error correction, and topological phases of matter.
John Preskill was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1953. He completed an undergraduate degree at Princeton University where he studied physics and mathematics, followed by doctoral studies at Harvard University under the supervision of Steven Weinberg, receiving a Ph.D. in theoretical physics. During his education he trained in subjects spanning particle physics, general relativity, and early formulations of quantum information, interacting with contemporaries active in the development of gauge theory and quantum field theory.
Preskill joined the faculty of Caltech in the early 1980s and has held the title of Professor of Theoretical Physics. He has served in administrative and leadership roles including founding and directing the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM) at Caltech. He has supervised numerous doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers who later took positions at institutions such as MIT, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Google Quantum AI, and national laboratories including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Preskill has been active in organizing programs and workshops at venues such as the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) and has collaborated with experimental groups at organizations including IBM Quantum, Microsoft Quantum, and university spin-off laboratories.
Preskill is widely credited for advancing the theoretical foundations of quantum error correction and for popularizing the term "quantum supremacy" to describe a milestone where a quantum computer performs a task beyond practical reach of classical computers. He co-developed concepts and protocols connected to stabilizer codes, fault-tolerant quantum computation, and topological quantum computation that draw on ideas from topological order and anyons originally studied in condensed matter physics. Preskill's work connects with seminal papers by Peter Shor on Shor's algorithm and Andrew Steane on quantum error-correcting codes, building a theoretical ecosystem that includes surface codes, Kitaev's toric code (Alexei Kitaev), and approaches pursued by industry groups such as IBM Quantum and Google Quantum AI.
He has produced influential review articles and lecture notes that synthesize quantum information theory with practical considerations for implementing logical qubits, addressing decoherence, error thresholds, and architectures for scalable quantum processors. Preskill has engaged in interdisciplinary dialogue with researchers in computer science and cryptography concerning quantum complexity classes (e.g., BQP), post-quantum cryptography, and the implications of quantum devices for classical computational hardness assumptions.
Before his pivot to quantum information, Preskill made significant contributions to quantum field theory and high-energy physics, including work on magnetic monopoles, cosmic strings, and nonperturbative phenomena in gauge theories. He has investigated aspects of strong interactions and anomalies and has published on topics connecting particle physics to cosmology, such as the role of topological defects in the early universe and implications for Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). In recent years he has explored the intersection of quantum information and high-energy theory, engaging with concepts like entanglement entropy, the AdS/CFT correspondence (Maldacena), and quantum aspects of black holes in dialogue with researchers such as Juan Maldacena, Stephen Hawking, and Samir Mathur.
Preskill's cross-disciplinary perspective has contributed to efforts that reinterpret field-theoretic phenomena in information-theoretic language, influencing research programs on quantum simulation of quantum field theories and connections between holography and tensor network representations like MERA.
As founding director of the IQIM at Caltech, Preskill established a center that integrated theory and experiment across quantum information, condensed matter physics, and materials science. Under his leadership the IQIM hosted collaborative projects linking academic groups and industry partners, and organized educational programs, summer schools, and conferences that advanced training in quantum engineering and quantum optics. The institute attracted faculty including experimentalists and theorists working on superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and topological materials, fostering partnerships with centers such as the Institute for Quantum Information at other institutions and with funding agencies like the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy.
Preskill's work has been recognized by multiple honors: he is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received awards for research and teaching at Caltech and national prizes acknowledging contributions to theoretical physics and quantum information. Preskill is frequently invited as a plenary speaker at conferences such as the International Conference on Quantum Information and has been an influential voice in shaping U.S. and international research agendas on quantum technologies through advisory roles and participation in panels convened by organizations like the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Category:Theoretical physicists Category:Quantum information scientists Category:California Institute of Technology faculty