(UMontreal.ca) Gilles Brassard, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research at Université de Montréal, along with Charles Bennett of IBM’s New York State Research Center and Peter Shor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been awarded the BBVA Foundation’s Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the basic sciences category for “outstanding contributions to the areas of computing and quantum communication.”
These three researchers will receive the award June 2 in Bilbao, Spain, and will share the €400,000 that comes with it.
Professor Brassard is the seventh Canadian to receive the prize and the first ever in the basic sciences category (physics, chemistry, mathematics).
In 1984, Brassard and Bennett devised the first quantum cryptography technique, which makes it possible to encode messages in order to exchange information with absolute confidentiality. Then, in 1993, they laid the foundations for quantum teleportation in collaboration with four other researchers. The group proved that it was possible to transport information in subatomic particles, such as photons, from one place in the galaxy to another, without physically moving them. This principle is based on the rules of quantum theory, according to which a particle can simultaneously exist in several states.
NOTE: The BBVA Foundation expresses the corporate social responsibility of the BBVA Group, in particular, its commitment to the advancement of the societies where it conducts its business activity. This responsibility and commitment have given rise to an extensive body of work in diverse knowledge areas.