Biography

Raymond Laflamme was born in Quebec City and did his undergraduate studies in Physics at Universite Laval. He then moved to Cambridge, England, where he survived Part III of Mathematical Tripos before earning his PhD in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) under the direction of Stephen Hawking. Laflamme and Don Page are responsible for having changed Hawking's mind on the direction of time in a contracting Universe (as described in Hawking’s best-seller "A Brief History of Time"). After his PhD, Laflamme became a Killam post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia. He moved back to Cambridge in 1990 as a Research Fellow at Peterhouse. He finally settled down for nine years at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He arrived as a postdoctoral fellow, then became an Oppenheimer Fellow in 1994. In 2001 he joined the newly founded Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo, where he founded the Institute for Quantum Computing that is its Director. Laflamme holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Quantum Information, he is Director of the Quantum Information program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced research and a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada (2008), the American Physics Society (2011) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012).

His interests include understanding the impact of and controlling information using the laws of quantum mechanics，the arrow of time and bringing science to the public.

Abstract

We are at the dawn of a new technological revolution. Just as the 19th century was the Machine Age and the 20th century was the Information Age, the 21st century promises to go down as the Quantum Age. Harnessing and controlling the counterintuitive properties of quantum mechanics will enable previously unimaginable technologies that will transform the ways we work, communicate and live.Quantum information processing forces us to learn a new language — one that describes the behaviours and interactions of the universe's most fundamental building blocks. We are now learning to speak this quantum language — to control quantum systems and apply them toward unprecedented applications in the laboratory and beyond. We are discovering new ways to navigate the nano-scale world, and we are tapping into the incredible potential of quantum computers, sensors, communications devices and more. Quantum technologies are already finding real-world applications, and the fundamental groundwork is now being laid for revolutionary advances in the coming years, from ultra-powerful computers to unbreakable cryptography and more. I will describe some of the recent progress in the field, particularly in the experimental realm, such as implementations of algorithms on small quantum processors — an important demonstration of control over the quantum world. I will conclude by exploring some of the unexpected offshoots of quantum information research, such as advances in neutron interferometry and oil exploration.