Alexei Yurievich Kitaev (russian: Алексей Юрьевич Китаев; born August 26, 1963) is a Russian–American professor of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

and permanent member of the

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world, and brings theorists in physics and rela ...

. He is best known for introducing the

quantum phase estimation algorithm In quantum computing, the quantum phase estimation algorithm (also referred to as quantum eigenvalue estimation algorithm), is a quantum algorithm to estimate the phase (or eigenvalue) of an eigenvector of a unitary operator. More precisely, given ...

and the concept of the topological quantum computer while working at the

Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics The L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (russian: link=no, Институт теоретической физики имени Л. Д. Ландау (ИТФ)) of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research institution, located in the s ...

. For this work, he was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

in 2008. He is also known for introducing the complexity class QMA and showing the 2-local Hamiltonian problem is QMA- complete, the most complete result for k-local Hamiltonians. Kitaev is also known for contributions to research on a model relevant to researchers of the

AdS/CFT correspondence In theoretical physics, the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence, sometimes called Maldacena duality or gauge/gravity duality, is a conjectured relationship between two kinds of physical theories. On one side are anti-de Sitter s ...

started by Subir Sachdev and Jinwu Ye; this model is known as the Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev (SYK) model. Kitaev was educated in Russia, receiving an M.Sc. from the

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT; russian: Московский Физико-Технический институт, also known as PhysTech), is a public research university located in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It prepares speciali ...

(1986), and a Ph.D. from the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (1989). He served previously as a researcher (1999–2001) at Microsoft Research, a research associate (1989–1998) at the Landau Institute and a professor at Caltech (2002–present).

Honors and awards

In 2008 Kitaev was awarded a

. In July 2012, he was an inaugural awardee of the

Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is one of the Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Board. Initially named Fundamental Physics Prize, it was founded in July 2012 by Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture cap ...

, the creation of physicist and internet entrepreneur,

Yuri Milner Yuri Borisovich (Bentsionovich) Milner (russian: Юрий Борисович (Бенционович) Мильнер; born 11 November 1961) is a Soviet-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist. He is a cofounder and former c ...

. In 2015, he was jointly awarded the 2015

Dirac Medal The Dirac Medal is the name of four awards in the field of theoretical physics, computational chemistry, and mathematics, awarded by different organizations, named in honour of Professor Paul Dirac, one of the great theoretical physicists of the 20 ...

ICTP The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is an international research institute for physical and mathematical sciences that operates under a tripartite agreement between the Italian Government, United Nations Education ...

. In 2017, he was, together with

Xiao-Gang Wen Xiao-Gang Wen (; born November 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American physicist. He is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Distinguished Visiting Research Chair at the Perimeter Institute for Theor ...

, the winner of the

Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize The Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize is an annual award given by the American Physical Society "to recognize and encourage outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics." It was endowed by AT&T Bell Lab ...

. In 2021, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences.

Political positions

In February–March 2022, he signed an open letter by Breakthrough Prize laureates condemning the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

.An open letter from Breakthrough Prize laureates
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References

External links

* http://www.macfound.org/fellows/802/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitaev, Alexei Living people MacArthur Fellows California Institute of Technology faculty Soviet physicists 20th-century American physicists Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Simons Investigator Quantum information scientists Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1963 births

Honors and awards

Political positions

See also

References

External links