Peter Shor wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

Peter Shor, the Morss Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT, wins share of $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Credits : Image: Christopher Harting - MIT to share $3 million prize with three others; Daniel Spielman PhD '95 wins Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Peter Shor, the Morss Professor of Applied Mathematics at MIT, has been named a recipient of the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. He shares the $3 million prize with three others for "foundational work in the field of quantum information": David Deutsch at the University of Oxford, Charles Bennett at IBM Research, and Gilles Brassard of the University of Montreal. In announcing the award, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation highlighted Shor's contributions to the quantum information field, including the eponymous Shor's algorithm for factoring extremely large numbers, and for an algorithm to correct errors in quantum computers. "These ideas not only paved the way for today's fast-developing quantum computers; they are now also at the frontiers of fundamental physics, especially in the study of metrology - the science of measurement - and of quantum gravity," the award announcement reads. "I'm very grateful to see the prize going to quantum information and quantum computation theory this year," Shor commented to.