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Scientist

Paul Benioff

1935-2022 · quantum computing, theoretical physics, quantum information
American theoretical physicist, the first to describe a quantum mechanical model of a computer. In 1980 (simultaneously with Yuri Manin) he showed that quantum systems can be used to perform computations, and introduced the concept of a quantum Turing machine.

Biography

Born in New York. Educated in chemistry and physics, PhD in nuclear chemistry. Worked at Argonne National Laboratory. Despite modest fame, his work laid the foundation for quantum computing. He was active until the end of his life, publishing works on quantum information.

Key discoveries

💡 He came to quantum computing from nuclear chemistry, which was atypical; his pioneering work long went unnoticed until the rise of interest in quantum computers.
"He said that quantum mechanics not only describes the world but can also be used to process it."
Concepts
quantum computersuperposition
Laws
superposition principle
Scientists
Alain AspectDavid DeutschLouis de BroglieRichard FeynmanDavid WinelandWerner HeisenbergArtur EkertGilles Brassard

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Quantum Physics2025-09-232 minarXiv:2509.19501
A Quantum Network as a Gravitational Laboratory
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Quantum Physics2025-12-021 minarXiv:2512.02838express
A Dancing Speck of Dust Tests the Laws of the Quantum World
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Gravity vs. Superposition: Why the World Isn't Blurred
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Quantum Physics2026-01-041 minarXiv:2601.01404express
Quantum Trick: How Disorder Boosts Precision Measurements
The calm вода of a lake: the slightest ripple blurs the depth. In quantum sensors, noise — random jitters — generates энтропию (disorder) and kills precision. Physicists found a solution: scramble the order of events.
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Quantum Physics2026-01-101 minarXiv:2601.06608express
A Diamond Speck in Two Places at Once
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Quantum Physics2026-01-141 minarXiv:2601.09672express
A Schrödinger's Cat You Can Hold in Your Palm
Schrödinger's cat usually hides in thought experiments — alive and dead at the same time. This time, it was caught in the lab: a light pulse was made to be in two opposite states at once, like a coin hovering in the air, heads and tails at the same time.
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Quantum Physics2026-01-301 minarXiv:2601.22697express
Billiards and Quanta: One Equation for All
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Quantum Physics2026-02-061 minarXiv:2602.06308express
Schrödinger's Cat Made of Atoms
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Quantum Physics2026-03-021 minarXiv:2603.01811express
Why can't large objects be in two places at once?
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Quantum Gases2026-03-091 minarXiv:2603.08691express
When Atoms Decide to Sing in Chorus
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Strongly Correlated2026-03-111 minarXiv:2603.10552express
Ordered Waves on the Surface of a Uranium Superconductor
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Quantum Physics2026-03-131 minarXiv:2603.12675express
Quantum Particles Remember Their Past
An ice cube in tea melts without a trace. Similarly, quantum systems usually quickly forget their past. But under strong disorder, many-body localization emerges — particles seem to freeze, preserving memory. The experiment on IBM's 144-qubit processor lasted 5000 cycles.
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Quantum Channels Reveal Topology of Mixed States
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Quantum Physics2026-03-251 minarXiv:2603.24067express
How a Beam of Light Turns into Schrödinger's Cat
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Quantum Physics2026-03-302 minarXiv:2603.28433express
Quantum Imprint in Light
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Quantum Physics2026-05-152 minarXiv:2605.15945express
Schrödinger's Cat Made of Thousands of Atoms
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Quantum Physics2026-05-153 minarXiv:2605.16148
Why We Don't See Schrödinger's Cats
Schrödinger's cat is alive and dead at the same time: so goes the famous paradox. But no one has ever seen such a cat. The macroscopic objects around us always sit in one definite state, not in a superposition of several. So why is the quantum world, which allows opposites to coexist, so categorical on large scales?
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Quantum Physics2026-05-181 minarXiv:2605.18525express
Two Atoms Send Photons Marching in Triplets
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Quantum Physics2026-05-251 minarXiv:2605.25986express
Quantum Generator: Images Without Training
Conventional neural networks learn from thousands of examples, burning hours and gigawatts. Physicists have found a quantum workaround. As early as Max Planck showed the discreteness of energy, today this allows generation without training.
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Quantum Physics2026-06-021 minarXiv:2606.03293express
Quantum Cat from 120 Photons: Macroscopic Superposition of Light
A quantum cat is a special state of light, the idea of which was proposed by Erwin Schrödinger in his famous thought experiment.
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General Relativity2026-06-023 minarXiv:2606.04099
Gravity as Noise: Why Macroscopic Objects Lose Quantum Coherence
On a laboratory table, a tiny particle levitates, held by a laser beam. It is in a quantum superposition: its wave function describes two positions simultaneously, as if the particle had split in two. But this state is not eternal. The surrounding world constantly interferes, and quantum coherence fades like morning mist.
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Math Physics2026-06-212 minarXiv:2606.22666express
Quantum Field Theory with a Built-In Limit
Quantum electrodynamics, or QED, describes how light interacts with charged particles — for example, electrons. It is one of the most precise theories in history: its predictions match experiment to the eleventh decimal place.
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Quantum Physics2026-06-263 minarXiv:2606.28199
Hybrid Intelligence: Quantum Hearing Distinguishes Topological Phases
Once Richard Feynman saw in quantum systems a challenge for classical computers. Now we face the inverse problem: understanding what exactly the quantum processor has simulated. Among the states it births are veritable 'black boxes'—topological phases of matter.
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Superconductivity2026-07-024 minarXiv:2607.02267
Superconducting Web: How Defects in Graphene Weave Quantum Order
Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon crystal, has long tantalized physicists with the hope of high-temperature superconductivity. Its electrons obey the relativistic equation of Paul Dirac, racing at tremendous speed, barely noticing each other.
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Quantum Physics2026-07-031 minarXiv:2607.03622express
Quantum Dance of Dust Grains in a Magnetic Trap
A magnetic field holds a tiny particle in mid-air, like an invisible dance partner. A special tuning of the field creates a trap with two "positions." In the ordinary world, a dancer occupies only one, but in the quantum world — both at once. Physicists have learned to achieve this for dust grains weighing trillionths of a gram.
Jaume Cunill-Subiranas·Fabian Resare·Suocheng Zhao·Sofia Qvarfort·A. Metelmann·Carles Navau·Witlef Wieczorek
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Quantum Physics2026-07-063 minarXiv:2607.05000
The Symphony of Quantum Neurons: When Learning Became an Orchestra of Superpositions
The classical neuron is a chamber musician, drawing only one note from each string: it takes a weighted sum of inputs, adds a bias, and passes it through a nonlinearity.
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Quantum Physics2026-07-091 minarXiv:2607.08819express
Why Even a Heavy Apparatus Trembles
The quantum world loves balance. When a massive particle is forced to split, to go down two paths at once, something must give way in response. That "something" turns out to be the very apparatus that split the particle.
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Quantum Physics2026-07-223 minarXiv:2607.20195
Quantum relay race: how a single electron turns a nanoparticle into a Schrödinger's cat
A runner on the anchor leg of a relay race takes the baton and runs on. If the baton could carry two different starting points inside it, the runner would set off in two directions at once.
Thiago Guerreiro
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Quantum Physics2026-08-062 minarXiv:2608.05972express
Quantum Ripples in a Massive Sphere
Quantum mechanics allows a particle to be in two places at once: this is called superposition. But massive objects, like a dust grain or a ball, don't behave that way: their position is always definite. Why? One idea is that it's an illusion: the particle is constantly "jittering" from random environmental kicks, and the blurred picture averages out.
Randy Davila·Gerard J. Milburn
superposition principleDavid DeutschErwin SchrödingerJohn Stewart BellQuantum superpositionsuperpositionquantum decoherencequantum stateDecoherence
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Quantum Physics2026-08-103 minarXiv:2608.09924
Quantum Coherence Microscope: Seeing the Phase of Atoms in a Lattice
In a hall with a thousand spectators, applause blends into a general noise, but if someone falls out of rhythm — a ripple runs through the crowd. The quantum world works similarly: atoms in a trap can behave as a single whole, or they can fall apart into independent individuals.
Lin Su·Michal Szurek·Alec Douglas·Ceren B. Dag·Markus Greiner
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