Peter Shor | |
|---|---|
 Shor in 2017 | |
| Born | (1959-08-14)August 14, 1959 (age 65) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | California Institute of Technology (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
| Known for | Shor's algorithm Shor code CSS code SMAWK algorithm Stabilizer code Quantum threshold theorem |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science,applied mathematics |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | Random planar matching and bin packing (1985) |
| Doctoral advisor | Tom Leighton |
| Doctoral students | |
Peter Williston Shor (born August 14, 1959) is an Americantheoretical computer scientist known for his work onquantum computation, in particular for devisingShor's algorithm, a quantum algorithm forfactoring exponentially faster than the best currently-known algorithm running on a classical computer. He has been a professor ofapplied mathematics at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 2003.
Shor was born on August 14, 1959, inNew York City, to Joan Bopp Shor and S. W. Williston Shor.[10][11] He grew up inWashington, D.C. andMill Valley, California.[10] While attendingTamalpais High School, he placed third in the 1977USA Mathematical Olympiad.[12] After graduation that year, he won a silver medal at theInternational Math Olympiad inYugoslavia (the U.S. team achieved the most points per country that year).[13][14]
Shor graduated from theCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1981 with aB.S. in mathematics.[15] He was aPutnam Fellow in 1978. He then did doctoral study in applied mathematics at MIT, receiving a Ph.D. in 1985.[16] His doctoral advisor wasF. Thomson Leighton, and his thesis was on probabilistic analysis ofbin-packing algorithms.
After being awarded his PhD by MIT, he spent one year as apostdoctoral researcher at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and then accepted a position atBell Labs inNew Providence, New Jersey. It was there he developedShor's algorithm. This development was inspired bySimon's problem. Shor first found an efficient quantum algorithm for thediscrete log problem (which relates point-finding on a hypercube to a torus) and,
"Later that week, I was able to solve the factoring problem as well. There’s a strange relation between discrete log and factoring."[17]
Both of these problems are examples of theHSP. For his work discovering the efficient quantum algorithms for factoring and discrete logarithm he was awarded theNevanlinna Prize at the 23rdInternational Congress of Mathematicians in 1998[18][19] and theGödel Prize in 1999.[20] In 1999, he was awarded aMacArthur Fellowship.[21] In 2017, he received theDirac Medal of the ICTP and for 2019 theBBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences.[22]
Shor began hisMIT position in 2003. Currently, he is the Henry Adams Morss and Henry Adams Morss, Jr. Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at MIT.[23] He also is affiliated withCSAIL.[24]
He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Caltech in 2007.[15]
On October 1, 2011, he was inducted into theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[25][26] He was elected as anACM Fellow in 2019 "for contributions to quantum-computing, information theory, and randomized algorithms".[27] He was elected as a member of theNational Academy of Sciences in 2002.[28] In 2020, he was elected a member of theNational Academy of Engineering for pioneering contributions to quantum computation.[29]
In an interview published inNature on October 30, 2020, Shor said that he considerspost-quantum cryptography to be a solution to the quantum threat, although a lot of engineering effort is required to switch from vulnerable algorithms.[30]
Along with three others, Shor was awarded the 2023Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for "foundational work in the field of quantum information."[9]
.Lectures and panels