John Preskill

Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics
Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy
California Institute of Technology

Curriculum Vitae, publication list, recent talks, biographical sketch

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

Home Page for Physics 12c, a course on statistical physics.

Field Theory Lecture Notes.

The Institute for Quantum Information and Matter.

IQIM Blog: Quantum Frontiers. My posts.

Follow me: on X, on Bluesky, on LinkedIn.

The Caltech Particle Theory Home Page.

My Students: Where are they now?

Former IQI/IQIM postdocs now in faculty positions (75 so far).

60^th Birthday.

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. Since the mid-1990s, my central interest has been in the theory of quantum information, quantum computing, and quantum error correction.

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. Here is a 6-minute animated introduction to the subject.

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

In 2000 I founded the Institute for Quantum Information (IQI), as part of the initiative in Information Technology Research launched by the National Science Foundation. In 2011 the IQI become a part of the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM), an NSF Physics Frontiers Center.

Contact Information:

Caltech 305-16
Pasadena, CA 91125

email: preskill(at)caltech(dot)edu
Office: 206 Annenberg
Phone: 626-395-6691

Papers and Talks:

Some of my publications can be found on the electronic ArXiv. Another useful list of my publications can be found on google scholar. Here is a complete publication list, with links to most of the articles.

Here are some recent talks I have given. A more complete list of talks since 2019 is here.

• Beyond NISQ: The megaquip machine (Q2B 2024)
• Bell Prize Award Session (CQIQC 2024)
• Our quantum future (US QIS Summer School 2024)
• Umesh Vazirani, Physicist (Umeshfest 2024)
• Michael Ben-Or corrects errors (Workshop in honor of Michael Ben-Or 2024)
• Crossing the quantum chasm: From NISQ to fault tolerance (Q2B 2023)
• Following Lenny’s Lead (DanLennyFest 2022)
• Quantum computing 40 years later and 4 years later (Q2B 2021)
• Classical shadows of quantum states (Simons Institute 2021)
• Quantum computing and fundamental physics (QuantHEP Seminar 2020)
• Entanglement explained (KITP Teachers’ Conference 2020)
• The ghost in the radiation: robust encodings of the black hole interior (KITP 2020)
• Perspectives on quantum gravity (Google X 2019)
• Quantum speedups in the NISQ era (QuICS 2019)
• Improving quantum metrology using quantum error correction (DAMOP 2019)
• What’s next after quantum supremacy (Q2B 2019)
• Quantum technology: the search for applications (Q2B 2018)
• Feynman After 40 (APS April Meeting 2018)
• Quantum computing in the NISQ era and beyond (Q2B 2017)
• Quantum information and spacetime (QIP 2017): Part 1, Part 2
• QEC in 2017: Past, present, and future (QEC 2017)
• Quantum algorithms for simulating quantum field theory (QuICS 2017)
• Stability, topology, holography: The many facets of quantum error correction (APS March Meeting 2016)
• Our quantum future (SQuInT 2016)
• Quantum is different: Part 1, Part 2 (One Entangled Evening 2016)
• Is spacetime a quantum error-correcting code? (KITP 2015)
• Grand challenges at the interface of quantum information science, particle physics, and computing (HEPAP 2015)
• Quantum information and black holes (MIT 2014)
• A one-hour public lecture on quantum information (Caltech 2013)
• Introduction to Quantum Information, two one-hour lectures (2012)
• Quantum error correction and fault tolerance (2012)

Below are a few papers that are not readily available elsewhere on the Internet. Some are transcripts of informal talks I have given.

• My commentary on the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics – 5 October 2004
• Foreword to The Feynman Lectures on Gravitation (with Kip Thorne) -- May 1995
• A colloquium on black holes and the information paradox. -- 21 November 1994
• A colloquium on the non-abelian Aharonov-Bohm effect. -- 15 April 1993

Teaching:

Information about Physics 219 , a course about quantum information and computation.
Field Theory Lecture Notes, from Ph 230, Ph236, Ph 205
Information about Physics 230 , a course about elementary particle theory.
Information about Physics 106 , a course about classical mechanics.
Information about Physics 12b , a course about quantum physics.
Information about Physics 12c , a course about statistical physics.

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 concession.
Remembering Stephen Hawking.

Other Stuff:

• Physics Colloquium Poems: Erik Winfree , Craig Hogan , Hirosi Ooguri , John Schwarz, Quantum Cryptography, Spin is In, arXiv.org, Lene Hau , Let’s Play CA! , On Quantum Compression, Leon Balents, Eddie Farhi, Jeff Kimble, Anyon, Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman
• The Joy of Why podcast, with Janna Levin (2024)
• If from Qubit After-Dinner Speech (2023)
• Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss (2023)
• My quantum trajectory (Harvard/Radcliffe Chilloquium, 2022)
• Oral history interview (American Institute of Physics, 2022)
• QIP 2019 After-Dinner Speech (2019)
• Y Combinator podcast, with Craig Cannon (2018)
• Feynman at Caltech, with Kip Thorne (Feynman 100, 2018)
• Singing “One Entangled Evening” with: Gia Mora (Caltech, 2016), Robin Selinger (APS March Meeting, 2016)
• Finding Things Out, with Kip Thorne and Stephen Hawking (TEDx Caltech, 2011)
• Ten Physics Problems for the Next Millennium (selected at Strings 2000)
• Millennium Prize Problems in Mathematics (from the Clay Mathematics Institute)
• A-hats Team Song (Caltech quantum optics softball team)
• My Dog (photo and poem)
• My New Dog (photo)
• Words of Wisdom: “All I really need to know” by David P. Stern.