Theoretical physicist Peter Zoller has been awarded the Herbert Walther Award 2016 for his groundbreaking research in the field of quantum physics. The joint German-American prize honoring outstanding contributions to quantum optics and atomic physics will be presented today during the DPG Spring Meeting in Hanover.
The Herbert Walther Award honors seminal contributions to innovations in quantum optics and atomic physics as well as outstanding achievements in the international scientific community. The award, valued at Euro 5,000 Euro, is jointly made by the Optical Society of America (OSA) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG) in honor of the late physicist Herbert Walther, who died in 2006. Walther was a hugely successful researcher in the USA and Germany and one of the founding directors of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany. The first two Herbert Walther awardees were Nobel laureates David J. Wineland in 2009 and Serge Haroche in 2010. The award ceremony of the Herbert Walther Award 2016 will take place during the DPG Spring Meeting of the Section Atoms, Molecules, Quantum Optic and Plasma in Hanover, Germany, on 29 February 2016.
About Peter Zoller
Peter Zoller is regarded as one of the most influential scientists in the field of quantum optics. With his ground-breaking discoveries and developments he has bridged quantum optics and other fields in physics, opening up new avenues for developing the quantum technologies of the future. As a pioneer in the development of quantum simulators, he continuously has been furthering the development of next generation quantum computers. Peter Zoller’s research work has been recognized internationally with prestigious awards, for instance, he received the Wolf Prize in 2013, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in 2010 and the Max-Planck Medal in 2005. Peter Zoller is Professor for Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck and Scientific Director at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.