Avshalom Cyrus Elitzur ( he, אבשלום כורש אליצור; born 30 May 1957) is an Israeli

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and philosopher.

Biography

Avshalom Elitzur was born in Kerman, Iran, to a Jewish family. When he was two years old, his family immigrated to Israel and settled in Rehovot. He left school at the age of sixteen and began working as a laboratory technician at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

in Rehovot. Elitzur received no formal university training before obtaining his PhD. Elitzur was a senior lecturer at the Unit for Interdisciplinary Studies,

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

Ramat-Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

, Israel. He is noted for the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-testing problem in

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...

, which was publicised by Roger Penrose in his book '' Shadows of the Mind''. In 1987, he published his book: ''Into the Holy of Holies: Psychoanalytic Insights into the Bible and Judaism''. During that same year, he was invited to present an unpublished manuscript on quantum mechanics at an international conference in

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Consequently, he was later invited by

Yakir Aharonov Yakir Aharonov ( he, יקיר אהרונוב; born August 28, 1932) is an Israeli physicist specializing in quantum physics. He has been a Professor of Theoretical Physics and the James J. Farley Professor of Natural Philosophy at Chapman Univer ...

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, the doyen of physicists in Israel, to write a doctoral thesis on the subject. He was the chief editor of natural sciences in Encyclopaedia Hebraica. In 2008, he was a visiting professor at

Joseph Fourier University Joseph Fourier University (UJF, french: Université Joseph Fourier, also known as Grenoble I) was a French university situated in the city of Grenoble and focused on the fields of sciences, technologies and health. It is now part of the Universit ...

. Elitzur is the founder of the Iyar, The Israeli Institute for Advanced Research. Elitzur had a relationship with journalist Timura Lessinger, with whom he has a daughter.

Awards

In 2010, Elitzur won the Noetic Medal of Consciousness and Brain Research for his contributions to cosmology of mind and Quantum Theory.The 2010 Noetic Medal awarded to Israeli Physicist Avshalom C. Elitzur
/ref>

Published works

Author

*לפני ולפנים - עיונים פסיכואנליטיים במקרא וביהדות, תל אביב, "ירום"-אליצור, 1987 * זמן ותודעה - תהיות חדשות על חידות עתיקות, אוניברסיטה משודרת, 1994,

Editor

* 'Endophysics, Time, Quantum and the Subjective', edited by Rosolino Buccheri, Avshalom C Elitzur and Metod Saniga; Germany, Bielefeld, 2005 * 'Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics?' (The Frontiers Collection), by A. Elitzur (Editor), S. Dolev (Editor), N. Kolenda (Editor); New York: Springer, 2005 * 'Mind and its Place in the World: Phenomenology & Minds', Vol. 7 (Phenomenology & Mind) by Alexander Batthyany (Editor), Avshalom Elitzur (Editor), Ontos Verlag, 2006 * 'Irreducibly Conscious: Selected Papers on Consciousness', Herausgegeben von Batthyany, Alexander / Elitzur, Avshalom (Editors), Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, 2009

References

External links

Elitzur website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elitzur, Avshalom 1957 births Living people Bar-Ilan University faculty Israeli philosophers Israeli physicists Israeli Mizrahi Jews Iranian Jews Iranian emigrants to Israel Jewish physicists Quantum physicists Jewish philosophers Phenomenologists