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Seth Lloyd
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{{Short description|American mechanical engineer and physicist}} {{Use American English|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox scientist |name = Seth Lloyd |image = Seth Lloyd.jpg |caption = Seth Lloyd in 2013 |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|08|02}} |birth_place = |death_date = |death_place = |citizenship = |nationality = American |fields = [[Physicist]] |workplaces = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]<br>[[California Institute of Technology]]<br>[[Los Alamos National Laboratory]]<br>[[Santa Fe Institute]] |education = [[Phillips Academy]] (1978)<br>[[Harvard College]] (A.B., 1982)<br>[[Cambridge University]] (M.Phil, 1984)<br>[[Rockefeller University]] (Ph.D. physics, 1988) |doctoral_advisor = [[Heinz Pagels]] |academic_advisors = |doctoral_students = |notable_students = |known_for = Studying [[limits of computation]]<br>''[[Programming the Universe]]''<br>[[Coherent information]]<br>[[Continuous-variable quantum information]]<br>[[Dynamical decoupling]]<br>[[Effective complexity]]<br>[[Quantum capacity]]<br>[[Quantum illumination]]<br>[[Quantum mechanics of time travel]]<br>[[Quantum algorithm for linear systems of equations]] |influences = |influenced = |awards = |signature = <!--(filename only)--> |footnotes = }} '''Seth Lloyd''' (born August 2, 1960) is a [[professor]] of [[mechanical engineering]] and [[physics]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. His research area is the interplay of [[information]] with [[complex systems]], especially [[quantum mechanics|quantum]] systems. He has performed seminal work in the fields of [[quantum computation]], [[quantum communication]] and [[quantum biology]], including proposing the first technologically feasible design for a [[quantum computer]], demonstrating the viability of quantum analog computation, proving quantum analogs of [[Shannon's noisy channel theorem]], and designing novel methods for [[quantum error correction]] and noise reduction.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://news.mit.edu/2015/seth-lloyd-appointed-nam-suh-professor-mechanical-engineering-0831 |title=Seth Lloyd, leading quantum mechanics expert, appointed Nam P. Suh Professor|last=MIT News Office|date=2015-08-31|language=en|access-date=2020-10-07}}</ref> ==Biography== Lloyd was born on August 2, 1960. He graduated from [[Phillips Academy]] in 1978 and received a bachelor of arts degree from [[Harvard College]] in 1982. He earned a certificate of advanced study in mathematics and a master of philosophy degree from [[Cambridge University]] in 1983 and 1984, while on a [[Marshall Scholarship]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=OYSI |url=http://oysi.org/people/entry/seth-lloyd |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=oysi.org}}</ref> Lloyd was awarded a doctorate by [[Rockefeller University]] in 1988 (advisor [[Heinz Pagels]]) after submitting a thesis on ''Black Holes, Demons, and the Loss of Coherence: How Complex Systems Get Information, and What They Do With It.'' From 1988 to 1991, Lloyd was a postdoctoral fellow in the High Energy Physics Department at the [[California Institute of Technology]], where he worked with [[Murray Gell-Mann]] on applications of information to quantum-mechanical systems. From 1991 to 1994, he was a postdoctoral fellow at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]], where he worked at the Center for Nonlinear Systems on quantum computation. In 1994, he joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at [[MIT]]. Starting in 1988, Lloyd was an external faculty member at the [[Santa Fe Institute]] for more than 30 years. In his 2006 book, ''[[Programming the Universe]]'', Lloyd contends that the universe itself is one big [[quantum computer]] producing what we see around us, and ourselves, as it runs a cosmic [[computer program|program]]. According to Lloyd, once we understand the laws of [[physics]] completely, we will be able to use small-scale quantum computing to understand the universe completely as well. Lloyd states that we could have the whole universe simulated in a computer in 600 years provided that computational power increases according to [[Moore's Law]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.edge.org/conversation/seth_lloyd-the-computational-universe |title=THE COMPUTATIONAL UNIVERSE |last=Lloyd |first=Seth |date=20 October 2002 |website=Edge.org |publisher=Edge Foundation |access-date=7 October 2020 |quote='Every physical system registers information, and just by evolving in time, by doing its thing, it changes that information ...'}}</ref> However, Lloyd shows that there are limits to rapid [[exponential growth]] in a finite universe, and that it is very unlikely that Moore's Law will be maintained indefinitely. Lloyd directs the ''Center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory'' (xQIT) at MIT.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rle.mit.edu/xqit |title=People: xQIT: Leadership |work=mit.edu |access-date=2023-07-20}}</ref> He has made influential contributions to a broad range of topics, mostly in the wider field of [[quantum information science]]. Among his most cited works are the first proposal for a digital [[quantum simulator]],<ref>{{cite journal |author=Seth Lloyd |title=Universal Quantum Simulators |journal=Science |volume=273 |year=1996 |issue=5278 |pages=1073β1078 |doi=10.1126/science.273.5278.1073|pmid=8688088 |bibcode=1996Sci...273.1073L }}</ref> a general framework for [[quantum metrology]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Quantum Metrology |first1=Vittorio |last1=Giovannetti |first2=Seth |last2=Lloyd |first3=Lorenzo |last3=Maccone |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |year=2006 |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=010401 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.010401 |pmid=16486424 |arxiv=quant-ph/0509179|bibcode=2006PhRvL..96a0401G |s2cid=32512151 }}</ref> the first treatment of quantum computation with [[continuous variables]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Quantum Computation over Continuous Variables |first1=Seth |last1=Lloyd |first2=Samuel L. |last2=Braunstein |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=82 |pages=1784β1787 |year=1999 |issue=8 |doi= 10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1784|arxiv=quant-ph/9810082|bibcode=1999PhRvL..82.1784L |s2cid=921320 }}</ref> [[dynamical decoupling]] as a method of quantum error avoidance,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dynamical Decoupling of Open Quantum Systems |first1=Lorenza |last1=Viola |first2=Emanuel |last2=Knill |first3=Seth |last3=Lloyd |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=82 |pages=2417β2421 |year=1999 |issue=12 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.2417 |arxiv=quant-ph/9809071|bibcode=1999PhRvL..82.2417V }}</ref> [[quantum algorithm]]s for equation solving<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Aram W. |last1=Harrow |first2=Avinatan |last2=Hassidim |first3=Seth |last3=Lloyd |title=Quantum Algorithm for Linear Systems of Equations |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=103 |year=2009 |issue=15 |pages=150502 |arxiv=0811.3171 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.150502|pmid=19905613 |bibcode=2009PhRvL.103o0502H }}</ref> and [[machine learning]]<ref>{{cite journal |first1=S. |last1=Lloyd |first2=M. |last2=Mohseni |first3=P. |last3=Rebentrost |title=Quantum principal component analysis |journal=Nature Physics |volume=10 |pages=631β633 |year=2014 |issue=9 |doi=10.1038/nphys3029 |arxiv=1307.0401|bibcode=2014NatPh..10..631L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Quantum Support Vector Machine for Big Data Classification |first1=Patrick |last1=Rebentrost |first2=Masoud |last2=Mohseni |first3=Seth |last3=Lloyd |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=113 |pages=130503 |year=2014 |issue=13 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.130503 |pmid=25302877 |arxiv=1307.0471|bibcode=2014PhRvL.113m0503R |s2cid=5503025 }}</ref> or research on the possible relevance of quantum effects in biological phenomena, especially [[photosynthesis]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Environment-assisted quantum walks in photosynthetic energy transfer |first1=Masoud |last1=Mohseni |first2=Patrick |last2=Rebentrost |first3=Seth |last3=Lloyd |first4=AlΓ‘n |last4=Aspuru-Guzik |journal=J. Chem. Phys. |volume=129 |pages=174106 |year=2008 |issue=17 |doi=10.1063/1.3002335 |pmid=19045332 |arxiv=0805.2741|bibcode=2008JChPh.129q4106M |s2cid=938902 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lloyd |first=Seth |date=2011|title=Quantum coherence in biological systems|journal=Journal of Physics: Conference Series |language=en |volume=302 |issue=1 |pages=012037 |doi=10.1088/1742-6596/302/1/012037|issn=1742-6596|bibcode=2011JPhCS.302a2037L|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Lloyd2014">{{cite speech |title = Optimal Energy Transport in Photosynthesis |first = Seth |last = Lloyd |author-link = Seth Lloyd |event = From Atomic to Mesoscale: The Role of Quantum Coherence in Systems of Various Complexities |location = Institute for Theoretical, Atomic and Molecular and Optical Physics, [[Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics|Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian]], Cambridge, Massachusetts |date = 2014-03-10 |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC28RzLeuFc |access-date = 2019-09-30 }}</ref> an effect he has also collaborated to exploit technologically.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/216358-mit-develops-enhanced-energy-transport-using-quantum-physics-and-genetic-engineering|last=Hewitt|first=John|title= MIT team genetically engineers a quantum virus for efficient energy transport| date=2015-10-16|website=extremetech.com}}</ref> According to [[Clarivate]] he had in July 2023 in total 199 peer-reviewed publications which were cited more than 22,600 times leading to an [[H-index|h index]] of 61.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/citation-report/38a2ae94-0e7b-462f-b873-1d2484ddf999-9912a935 |title=citation report Seth Lloyd |work=webofscience.com |access-date=2023-07-20}}</ref> ==Epstein affair== During July 2019, reports surfaced that MIT and other institutions had accepted funding from convicted sex offender [[Jeffrey Epstein]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A "Science Philanthropist" And Donated Millions To These Researchers|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-sex-trafficking-science-donations|access-date=2020-01-27|last=Aldhous|first=Peter|date=2019-07-11}}</ref> In the ensuing scandal,<ref name="factfindingmit">{{cite web|url=http://factfindingjan2020.mit.edu/|access-date=2020-01-27|title=MIT and Jeffrey Epstein|website=factfinding2020.mit.edu}}</ref> the director of the [[MIT Media Lab]], [[Joi Ito]], resigned from MIT as a result of his association with Epstein.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/business/mit-media-lab-jeffrey-epstein-joichi-ito.html|work=The New York Times|title=Director of M.I.T.'s Media Lab Resigns After Taking Money From Jeffrey Epstein|last1=Tracy|first1=Marc|last2=Hsu|first2=Tiffany|date=7 September 2019 |access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> Lloyd's connections to Epstein also drew criticism: Lloyd had acknowledged receiving funding from Epstein in 19 of his papers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/business/epstein-mit-media-lab.html |title = Jeffrey Epstein Donations to M.I.T. Will be Focus of University Inquiry|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2019-08-23|last1 = Tracy|first1 = Marc|last2 = Hsu|first2 = Tiffany}}</ref> On August 22, 2019, Lloyd published a letter<ref>{{Cite web |first=Seth|last=Lloyd| url=https://medium.com/@sqlloyd/i-am-writing-to-apologize-to-jeffrey-epsteins-victims-eee805c4f13 |title=I am writing to apologize to Jeffrey Epstein's victims|date=2019-08-24|website=medium.com}}</ref> apologizing for accepting grants (totaling $225,000) from Epstein. Despite this, the controversy continued.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/students-are-demanding-mit-fire-a-professor-who-visited-epstein-in-prison/|title=Students Are Demanding MIT Fire a Professor Who Visited Epstein in Prison|last=Gurley|first=Lauren Kaori|date=2019-11-04|work=Vice|language=en|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thetech.com/2019/10/23/seth-lloyd-should-not-teach|title=Seth Lloyd should not be teaching at MIT|last=Graham|first=Eleanor|website=The Tech|language=en|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Seth Lloyd should continue teaching at MIT|url=https://thetech.com/2019/12/05/seth-lloyd-continue-teaching-mit|last1=Tolchin|first1=Rion|date=2019-12-05|work=The Tech|location=Cambridge, MA|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> In January 2020, at the request of the [[MIT Corporation]], the law firm [[Goodwin Procter]] issued a report<ref name="factfindingmit" /> on all of MIT's interactions with Epstein. As a result of the report, on January 10, 2020, Lloyd was placed on [[administrative leave|paid administrative leave]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://news.mit.edu/2020/mit-releases-results-fact-finding-report-jeffrey-epstein-0110|title=MIT releases results of fact-finding on engagements with Jeffrey Epstein|last=MIT News Office|date=2020-01-10|language=en|access-date=2020-01-10}}</ref> Lloyd has vigorously denied that he misled MIT about the source of the funds he received from Epstein.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@sqlloyd/what-i-told-mit-about-epsteins-donations-feec0beb26a|first=Seth|last=Lloyd|title=What I told MIT about Epstein's donations|website=medium.com|access-date=2020-01-27|date=2020-01-16}}</ref> This denial was validated by a subsequent MIT investigation that concluded that Lloyd did not attempt to circumvent the MIT vetting process, nor try to conceal the name of the donor, and Lloyd was allowed to continue his tenured faculty position at MIT.<ref name="masslive">{{Cite news|url=https://www.masslive.com/boston/2020/12/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-disciplining-professor-with-ties-to-disgraced-financier-jeffrey-epstein.html|title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology disciplining professor with ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein|last=Stening|first=Tanner|access-date=2020-12-20|work=MassLive|language=en|date=2020-12-18}}</ref> However, most but not all members of MIT's fact-finding committee concluded that Lloyd had violated MIT's conflict of interest policy by not revealing crucial publicly known information about Epstein's background to MIT, as a result of which Lloyd will be subject to a series of administrative actions for 5 years.<ref name="masslive" /> ==Honors== * 2007 Fellow of the [[American Physical Society]]<ref name="aps">{{cite news|title=2007 Fellows of the American Physical Society|url=http://www.aps.org/units/gqi/fellowship/index.cfm?year=2007}}</ref> * 2012 International Quantum Communication Award<ref name="qcmc">{{cite news|title=2012 QCMC |url=http://www.qcmc2012.org}}</ref> ==Works== *{{cite thesis |degree = Ph.D. |first = Seth |last = Lloyd |title = Black Holes, Demons and the Loss of Coherence: How complex systems get information, and what they do with it. |url = http://meche.mit.edu/documents/slloyd_thesis.pdf |publisher = [[The Rockefeller University]] |date = 1988 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120607195224/http://meche.mit.edu/documents/slloyd_thesis.pdf |archive-date = 2012-06-07 }} *{{cite journal | author = Lloyd, S. | date = 2000-08-31 | title = Ultimate physical limits to computation | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 406 | pages = 1047–1054 | doi = 10.1038/35023282 | pmid = 10984064 | issue = 6799 | arxiv = quant-ph/9908043v3 | bibcode = 2000Natur.406.1047L | s2cid = 75923 }} *{{cite journal | author = Lloyd | date = 2001-10-24 | title = Computational capacity of the universe | journal = Physical Review Letters | volume = 88 | pages = 237901 | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.237901 | pmid = 12059399 | issue = 23 | arxiv = quant-ph/0110141 | bibcode = | s2cid = 6341263 |first=Seth}} * Lloyd, S., ''[[Programming the Universe|Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos]]'', [[Alfred A. Knopf|Knopf]], March 14, 2006, 240 p., {{ISBN|1-4000-4092-2}} * Interview: ''[https://www.edge.org/conversation/seth_lloyd-quantum-hanky-panky Quantum Hanky Panky: A Conversation with Seth Lloyd]'' (video), [[Edge.org|Edge Foundation]], 2016 * Interview: ''[http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/lloyd2/lloyd2_index.html The Computational Universe: Seth Lloyd]'' (video), [[Edge.org|Edge Foundation]], 2002 * Lecture: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0kJEAEx-5Q#! The Black Hole of Finance] (video), [[Santa Fe Institute]] * Movie: In 2022 Lloyd starred in the [[short film]] ''Steeplechase'' directed by [[Andrey Kezzyn]],<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q127870933}}</ref> which thematizes [[closed timelike curves]], a topic Lloyd has also addressed in his scientific work.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Seth |last1=Lloyd |first2=Lorenzo |last2=Maccone |first3=Raul |last3=Garcia-Patron |first4=Vittorio |last4=Giovannetti |first5=Yutaka |last5=Shikano |first6=Stefano |last6=Pirandola |first7=Lee A. |last7=Rozema |first8=Ardavan |last8=Darabi |first9=Yasaman |last9=Soudagar |first10=Lynden K. |last10=Shalm |first11=Aephraim M. |last11=Steinberg |title=Closed Timelike Curves via Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=106 |year=2011 |issue=4 |pages=040403 |arxiv=1005.2219 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.040403|pmid=21405310 |bibcode=2011PhRvL.106d0403L |s2cid=18442086 }}</ref> ==See also== * [[Digital physics]] * [[Nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computer]] * ''[[Quantum Aspects of Life]]'' * [[Simulated reality]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category|Seth Lloyd}} {{wikiquote}} *[https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=lyMGnwIAAAAJ Google Scholar page] *[http://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/SLLOYD@MIT.EDU Personal web page] *[http://www.pulse-berlin.com/index.php?id=144 "Crazy Molecules: Pulse Berlin Interview"] *[http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/lloyd/ ''Programming the Universe''] *[http://www.twis.org/2006/09/26/83/ Radio Interview] from [[This Week in Science]] September 26, 2006 Broadcast *{{MathGenealogy|id=123909}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Seth}} [[Category:American mechanical engineers]] [[Category:Complex systems scientists]] [[Category:Harvard College alumni]] [[Category:Rockefeller University alumni]] [[Category:MIT School of Engineering faculty]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1960 births]] [[Category:American people of Welsh descent]] [[Category:Santa Fe Institute people]] [[Category:New England Complex Systems Institute]] [[Category:American quantum information scientists]] [[Category:Quantum biology]] [[Category:Marshall Scholars]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
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