Colloquium: M. SuhailZubairy

Title: Counterfactual communication: Protocol, experiment, and controversy

Speaker: M. SuhailZubairy  Texas A&M University

Place: Room 201, Building 12, Yuquan Campus 

Time: 15:00—16:00, Jan. 12nd (Friday)

Abstract

It has long been assumed in physics that for information to travel between two parties in empty space, physical particles have to travel between them. Here, using the ‘‘chained’’ quantum Zeno effect, we show how information can be transferred between the two parties without any physical particles traveling between them. Recent experiments have shown how this protocol can be practically realized. This highly counter-intuitive result is however argued and debated in the literature. We shall discuss many of these issues in the talk.

About the Speaker

M. SuhailZubairyis a University Distinguished Professor of Physics and the holder of the Munnerlyn-Heep Chair in Quantum Optics at the Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1978. He served as Professor of Electronics and the founding Chairman of the Department of Electronics at the Quaid-i-Azam University before joining Texas A&M University in 2000. Prof. Zubairy’s research interests include quantum optics and laser physics. He has published over 300 research papers on topics such as precision microscopy and lithography, quantum computing, noise-free amplification, and atomic coherence effects. He is the co-author of two books, one on Quantum Optics and the other on Quantum Computing Devices.He has received many honors including the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics, Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize, the Outstanding Physicist Award from the Organization of Islamic Countries, the Abdus Salam Prize in Physics, the International Khwarizmi Award from the President of Iran, the Orders of Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Sitara-e-Imtiaz from the President of Pakistan, and the George H. W. Bush Award for Excellence in International Research. He is an elected member of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society.