Raymond Laflamme, a Canadian pioneer within the discipline of quantum data processing who as soon as labored with Stephen Hawking, has died after a prolonged bout with most cancers.
The College of Waterloo introduced his loss of life in a
this week. He died June 19 on what would have been his sixty fifth birthday.
Born in Québec Metropolis, the third of 5 siblings, Laflamme studied physics as an undergraduate on the Université Laval earlier than shifting to England to proceed his training there.
At Cambridge College, he earned his PhD underneath the supervision of Stephen Hawking, at one level
convincing the eminent scientist
(over the course of six months’ spirited dialogue) that Hawking was flawed in his perception that point would run backwards through the contraction of the universe.
Hawking gave credit score to Laflamme for this contribution in his best-selling e-book A Transient Historical past of Time. When Laflamme left Cambridge a couple of years later, Hawking personalised his copy of the e-book with a notice studying: “To Raymond, who confirmed me that the arrow of time shouldn’t be a boomerang. Thanks for all of your assist. Stephen.”
Years later,
at his office in Waterloo, Ont., throughout which his former pupil gave him a tour of labs, launched him to college, college students and employees — and offered him with a boomerang, engraved with the phrases: “Come again quickly!”
After Cambridge, Laflamme labored for a variety of years on the Los Alamos Nationwide Laboratory in New Mexico, the place his pursuits shifted from cosmology to quantum computing.
In 2001, he returned to Canada and joined the division of physics and astronomy on the College of Waterloo and the college’s newly created Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. There, he grew to become founding director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, a place he held for 15 years.
“By his management, IQC grew to become a world-class analysis hub, positioning Canada on the forefront of the quantum revolution,” the college stated in its launch. “In his scientific analysis, Laflamme pioneered theoretical and experimental approaches to quantum data processing and quantum error correction.”
It added: “Laflamme and colleagues developed an progressive strategy to quantum data processing utilizing linear optics, the outcomes of which grew to become one of the crucial referenced works in quantum computing.”
On the event of the fifteenth anniversary of the IQC, Hawking was
to pay tribute to Laflamme’s achievements. “The unimaginable progress and success of IQC are a testomony to professor Raymond Laflamme’s management,” he stated. “Beneath Raymond’s steering, IQC has established Waterloo and Canada because the world-leading hub for analysis in quantum applied sciences and their purposes.”
Laflamme’s many accolades included being named an Officer of the Order of Canada, the Canadian Affiliation of Physicists CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the American Bodily Society, and a Fellow of the American Affiliation for the Development of Science. He held the inaugural Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis “John von Neumann” Chair in Quantum Info.
He coauthored two textbooks on quantum computing: Constructing Quantum Computer systems: A Sensible Introduction and An Introduction to Quantum Computing. In 2020, he and his spouse, Janice Gregson, established the Raymond Laflamme and Janice Gregson Graduate Scholarship for Girls in Quantum Info Science, awarded yearly to acknowledge high ladies coming into Waterloo’s quantum graduate packages.
“All through his profession, he discovered methods to deliver folks collectively,” the college stated in its launch. “This was achieved on a global scale by main networks and organizing conferences, and inside the local people by way of pick-up hockey video games and sharing his insights generously with college students and colleagues.”
The college famous that, when he was recognized with lung most cancers, Laflamme began a venture with researchers at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ont., to research quantum applied sciences for most cancers analysis and remedy.
by Gregson and his kids, Patrick and Jocelyne. Cremation has taken place, and a celebration of life can be introduced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the household says donations could also be made to Lung Most cancers Canada, Princess Margaret Basis or the Waterloo Regional Well being Community Basis – Most cancers Centre. The household can also be working in the direction of organising a scholarship fund in Laflamme’s reminiscence.
An obituary at Erb & Good Household Funeral Residence famous Laflamme’s love for the outside. “In recent times, he and Janice went on bike excursions by way of France, and Ray launched into two canoe journeys to the Arctic — one with Patrick, one with Jocelyne,” it stated, including: “He had a knack for turning any venture into one thing particular, from constructing a log cabin sauna by hand to restoring his cherished 1979 VW bus.”
The obituary additionally features a tribute wall. One individual posted: “Though I solely met Ray Laflamme as soon as, I’ll always remember his persistence in explaining, in lay phrases, quantum computing to me.”
They added: “I first realized about his lung most cancers analysis in an interview with him within the (Waterloo Area) Document. He was talking out in regards to the significance of early screening for a most cancers that’s the main explanation for loss of life. The braveness he displayed by going public in that article solely elevated my respect for him. My condolences to his household.”
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