John Preskill  

John D. MacArthur Professor of Theoretical Physics
Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy
California Institute of Technology

Curriculum Vitae and publication list.

 

Home Page for Physics 219, a course on quantum computation.

The Institute for Quantum Information.

The Center for the Physics of Information.

My Students: Where are they now?

I am a theoretical physicist. Topics I have worked on in the past include the connections between particle physics and cosmology, properties of topological defects, nonperturbative phenomena in quantum field theory, and quantum aspects of the early universe and of black holes . For several years, my central interest has been in the theory of quantum information, quantum computing, and quantum coding.

Broadly speaking, quantum information science addresses how the principles of quantum physics can be harnessed to improve the acquisition, transmission, and processing of information. A quantum computer would be a new type of machine that, by exploiting the unusual quantum properties of information, could perform certain types of calculations far more efficiently than any foreseeable classical computer. I'm particularly interested in developing new schemes for protecting intricate quantum systems from decoherence and other sources of error.

For further information about quantum computation, and other useful links, see the Physics 219 home page.

I am Director of the Institute for Quantum Information (IQI),  which is part of the initiative in Information Technology Research launched by the National Science Foundation. I also direct the Center for the Physics of Information (CPI), part of Caltech’s initiative in Information Science and Technology (IST). For more about the mission of the CPI, see this poem.
 

Contact Information:

Caltech 452-48
Pasadena, CA 91125

email: preskill@theory.caltech.edu
Office: 626-395-6691
Fax: 626-568-8473


Papers: 

Some of my publications can be found at the electronic ArXiv or the SPIRES high-energy physics database . Here is a complete publication list , with links to articles written after 1991.

With some colleagues, I prepared a report on quantum information science for the National Science Foundation. A pdf version is also available.

Below are a few papers that are not readily available elsewhere on the Internet. Some are transcripts (in PostScript) of informal talks I have given. If your computer is not configured to view PostScript, you can try this site .

Teaching: 

·         Information about Physics 219 , a course about quantum information and computation.

·         Information about Physics 230 , a course about elementary particle theory.

·         Information about Physics 106 , a course about classical mechanics.

Betting: 

I was once briefly almost famous for winning a bet .  Alas, this only encouraged me to make more bets.   Details are on the black hole bets page .
Update (
24 July 2004): My comments about Stephen Hawking’s recent concession.

Other Stuff:

The Caltech Particle Theory Home Page

The Institute for Quantum Information.

The Center for the Physics of Information.


preskill@theory.caltech.edu