Today, quantum physicist Peter Zoller receives the Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The award is being presented by the American Physical Society for the first time this year for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of atomic physics and precision measurement.
Peter Zoller is considered one of the most influential scientists in the field of quantum optics and quantum information. With his groundbreaking discoveries and developments, the theorist has linked quantum optics with other fields of physics and thus laid the foundations for future quantum technologies. His pioneering work is driving the development of quantum simulators, quantum computers and quantum networks. Zoller has already received numerous awards for his research, including the Wolf Prize (2013), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (2010) and the Max Planck Medal (2005). Peter Zoller is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Innsbruck and Scientific Director at the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The Norman F. Ramsey Prize
The Norman F. Ramsey Prize is endowed with 10,000 US dollars. This year for the first time it is awarded by the American Physical Society with financial support from sponsors. From now on, outstanding work in the area of precise measurements of natural constants, the examination of fundamental laws of nature, and the precision spectroscopy of atoms and molecules will be awarded every year. The award is named after Nobel Laureate Norman Foster Ramsey. The Harvard professor, who died in 2011, is one of the founding fathers of modern atomic physics and quantum precision measurement. "Together with his students Daniel Kleppner (MIT) and David Wineland (NIST, Boulder), Norman Ramsey led atomic physics into the age of modern quantum physics and thus laid the foundations for today's quantum research and quantum technology. These US scientists have formed a research community in modern atomic physics that is characterized not only by outstanding scientific achievements, but also by a very collegial atmosphere," says Peter Zoller. "It is a very special honour for me to be the first scientist to be awarded the Norman F. Ramsey Prize by the American Physical Society."