Juan Pablo Paz (born 1959) is an Argentinian

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 ...

who works in the field of

quantum computing A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of wave-particle duality, both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using s ...

. A research scientist currently working at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

, he has also worked at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Biography

Juan Pablo Paz was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in 1959. He studied at the

, where he got his Master (1984) and Ph.D. (1988) degrees. He then went for postdoctoral stays to the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

(1989-1991) and the

(1991-1994). In 1994 he became associate professor in the Physics Department of the

and in 1999 associate professor. From 2003 to 2004 he was member of the technical staff at Los Alamos. Currently he is full professor in the Physics Department of the

, where he leads the ''Quantum Foundations and Information'' group. Between 1984 and 2004 he was married to Silvina Ponce Dawson (who is also a physicist) with whom he had two children. From 2019 to 2023 he was vice secretary of science (''secretario de Articulación Científico Tecnológica'', Secretary of Scientific and Technological Coordination) in the government of

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

Research

Paz has worked on the quantum theory of

quantum error correction Quantum error correction (QEC) is a set of techniques used in quantum computing to protect quantum information from errors due to decoherence and other quantum noise. Quantum error correction is theorised as essential to achieve fault tolerant ...

, and has developed a number of techniques to correct errors in quantum computers. He has also studied how to use quantum computers to simulate chaotic systems, in the context of

chaos theory Chaos theory is an interdisciplinary area of Scientific method, scientific study and branch of mathematics. It focuses on underlying patterns and Deterministic system, deterministic Scientific law, laws of dynamical systems that are highly sens ...

. In 2002, alongside César Miguel and Marcos Saraceno, he developed a program that allows efficient

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

and

tomography Tomography is imaging by sections or sectioning that uses any kind of penetrating wave. The method is used in radiology, archaeology, biology, atmospheric science, geophysics, oceanography, plasma physics, materials science, cosmochemistry, ast ...

using a

quantum computer A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using specialized hardware. ...

, establishing for the first time an analogy between these tasks.

Awards

* Ernesto E. Galloni Award in Physics, 1994 * International Fellow, Santa Fe Institute, 2001-2003 *

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, 2004 * W. Bessel Award, 2006.

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

* Bunge & Born Foundation, 2010 *

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) since 1985. Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics ...

in Physics, 2012 *

Bernardo Houssay Award The Bernardo Houssay Award () is a distinction awarded by Argentina's Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation to honor outstanding work by scientists and researchers. The Ministry selects recipients annually through a jury of p ...

and Researcher of the Nation, 2014 * Fellow of the

World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 100 countries. Its principal aim is t ...

, 2021

References

External links

''Un paso hacia la computación cuántica'', Axxon, July 8, 2002 (spanish)
* ttp://www.df.uba.ar/users/paz/ Personal website(from 2008)
2001 Lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paz, Juan Pablo Argentine physicists 1959 births Living people TWAS laureates Santa Fe Institute people Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel University of Buenos Aires alumni