Wolfgang Dür (born 25 October 1973) is an Austrian theoretical physicist and conducts research in the field of
quantum information theory and
quantum communication. He is a full professor at the
University of Innsbruck,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
.
Biography
Dür studied physics at the
University of Innsbruck and earned his doctorate
sub auspiciis praesidentis in 2001 under the supervision of
Ignacio Cirac. Following his PhD, he pursued postdoctoral research at the
University of Munich before returning to Innsbruck, where he earned his
habilitation in 2008. He became full professor in 2023.
He also studied physics and mathematics to become a high school teacher. He is married and has two children.
Research and career
Wolfgang Dür work focuses on topics such as
quantum networks,
quantum metrology, and
measurement-based quantum computation. Dür is well-known for his contributions to the development of
quantum repeaters, a key concept for enabling
quantum communication over long distances. Alongside collaborators such as
Hans Briegel, Ignacio Cirac, and
Peter Zoller, he provided the theoretical foundation for using quantum repeaters to establish global
quantum networks.
Dür is also widely recognized for his research on
multipartite entanglement
In the case of systems composed of m > 2 subsystems, the classification of quantum-entangled states is richer than in the bipartite case. Indeed, in multipartite entanglement apart from fully separable states and fully entangled states, there ...
. He co-introduced the
W state
The W state is an quantum entanglement, entangled quantum state of three qubits which in the bra-ket notation has the following shape
: , \mathrm\rangle = \frac(, 001\rangle + , 010\rangle + , 100\rangle)
and which is remarkable for representin ...
, a specific class of multipartite entangled states named after him, which are notable for their distinct properties and practical applications in quantum information theory. These states are critical in scenarios requiring robustness against particle loss and feature prominently in studies of distributed quantum systems.
In addition to his research, he has been dedicated to mentoring the next generation of quantum physicists. He is responsible for teacher education at the University of Innsbruck since 2011. His commitment to education extends to developing innovative approaches for teaching
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...
to high school and undergraduate students. Beyond academia, he actively engages in
didactics and
science outreach, simplifying quantum technologies for broader audiences and inspiring public interest in quantum advancements.
Awards
*
Marie-Curie individual fellowship of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
2001.
* APART fellowship of
Austrian Academy of Sciences 2003.
* Felix Kuschenitz award 2007 of
Austrian Academy of Sciences
* Outstanding referee award of the
American Physical Society 2009.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dür, Wolfgang
Austrian physicists
1973 births
Living people