Pan Jianwei (; born 11 March 1970) is a Chinese

quantum physicist Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, qua ...

university administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ty ...

and professor of physics at the

University of Science and Technology of China A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. Pan is known for his work in the field of

quantum entanglement Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles are generated, interact, or share spatial proximity in a way such that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state of ...

quantum information Quantum information is the information of the state of a quantum system. It is the basic entity of study in quantum information theory, and can be manipulated using quantum information processing techniques. Quantum information refers to both t ...

and quantum computers. In 2017, he was named one of

Nature's 10 ''Nature'' 10 is an annual listicle of ten "people who mattered" in science, produced by the scientific journal ''Nature (journal), Nature''. Nominees have made a significant impact in science either for good or for bad. Reporters and editorial s ...

, which labelled him "Father of Quantum". He is an academician of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

and the World Academy of Sciences and Executive Vice President of the

. He also serves as one of the Vice Chairman of Jiusan Society.

Early life and education

Pan was born in

Dongyang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, China. It covers an area of and administers eleven towns, one township, and six subdistricts. It is part of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region. As ...

, Jinhua,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

province in 1970. In 1987, he entered the

(USTC), from which he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. He received his PhD from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

in Austria, where he studied and worked in the group led by Nobel prize winning physicist

Anton Zeilinger Anton Zeilinger (; born 20 May 1945) is an Austrian quantum physicist and Nobel laureate in physics of 2022. Zeilinger is professor of physics emeritus at the University of Vienna and senior scientist at the Institute for Quantum Optics and ...

Contributions

Pan's team demonstrated five-photon entanglement in 2004. Under his leadership, the world's first quantum satellite launched successfully in August 2016 as part of the

Quantum Experiments at Space Scale Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS; ), is a Chinese research project in the field of quantum physics. Tiangong-2 is China's second Space Laboratory module which was launched on 15 September 2016. Tiangong-2 carries a total of 14 mission an ...

, a Chinese research project. In June 2017, Pan's team used their quantum satellite to demonstrate entanglement with satellite-to-ground total summed lengths between 1600km and 2400km and entanglement distribution over 1200km between receiver stations. In 2021, Pan led a team which built quantum computers. One of the devices, named "''Zuchongzhi 2.1''", was claimed to be one million times faster than its nearest competitor, Google's ''Sycamore''.

Awards and recognition

Pan was elected to the

in 2011 at the age of 41, making him one of the youngest CAS academicians. He was then elected to the World Academy of Sciences in 2012 and won the International Quantum Communication Award in the same year. In April 2014, he was appointed Vice President of the University of Science and Technology of China. His team's work on double quantum-teleportation was selected as the ''Physics World'' "Top Breakthrough of the Year" in 2015. His team, whose members include Peng Chengzhi,

Chen Yu'ao Chen Yu'ao (; born April 1981) is a Chinese physicist and a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), working on quantum information, quantum communication and quantum simulation. Chen was born in Qidong, Nantong, J ...

, Lu Chaoyang, and Chen Zengbing, won the State Natural Science Award (First Class) in 2015. In 2017, the journal ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' named Pan, along with such figures as

Ann Olivarius Ann Olivarius (born 19 February 1955) is an American-British lawyer who specializes in cases of civil litigation, sexual discrimination, and sexual harassment, assault, and abuse. Early life and education Ann Olivarius grew up in New Jersey, th ...

and

Scott Pruitt Edward Scott Pruitt (born May 9, 1968) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and Republican politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as the fourteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 17, 2017, to Jul ...

, one of the top 10 people who made "a significant impact in science either for good or for bad", with the label "Father of Quantum" given to Pan. Pan was included in ''Time'' magazine's ''100 Most Influential People of 2018.'' In 2019, Pan was appointed as lead editor of ''

Physical Review Research Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

''. In 2020, Pan received the ZEISS Research Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pan, Jianwei 1970 births Living people Quantum physicists Chinese academic administrators Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Members of the Jiusan Society Physicists from Zhejiang Scientists from Jinhua Educators from Jinhua People from Dongyang TWAS fellows University of Science and Technology of China alumni University of Science and Technology of China faculty University of Vienna alumni