2021 Arthur S. Flemming Award

Dr. Gorshkov is recognized for his pioneering research at the crossroads of quantum optics, and atomic and condensed matter physics, helping to usher in the coming quantum revolution. His landmark achievement of creating strong interactions between photons – particles of light that do not by nature interact – provides a practical basis for a new generation of technology, where instead of electrons, circuits of light are used to perform logical operations and computations. Expanding upon his successful demonstration, which was hailed as one of Physics World’s Top 10 breakthroughs, he has shown novel ways to control strongly coupled atom/light systems, and is laying the theoretical foundation for a new suite of enabling quantum technologies, including an entirely new single-photon source, photon-photon quantum gates, single-photon transistors, and lasers with ultranarrow-linewidth non-classical output. He has established new protocols for quantum sensor networks, and has defined tighter limits on the rate at which information can travel in quantum systems, setting limits on the performance of quantum computers.