Theoretical physicist, eminent specialist in quantum information processing and one of the pioneers of quantum cryptography. Raised in Rzeszów, he studied physics at the Jagiellonian University and then at Oxford University, where he began his doctoral studies in the late 1980s. He became interested in a novel, emerging field of knowledge called quantum cryptography, the use of quantum mechanics to encrypt information. In his PhD, he developed a cryptographic protocol whose security is guaranteed by the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics.
Ekert’s idea was to take advantage of so-called quantum entanglement between two particles. In simple terms, this phenomenon means that any disturbance to one of the entangled particles automatically affects the other – even if it is thousands of kilometres away. Thanks to this, Ekert noted, quantum-encrypted information cannot be “eavesdropped on”, as any unauthorised interference destroys it irrevocably. Ekert’s work proved to be a breakthrough. Already a year later, his encryption method was successfully realised in the laboratory, making quantum cryptography no longer pure theory, and he himself was honoured with the prestigious Maxwell Medal and Prize in 1995. In 1998, Ekert founded a research group at Oxford called the Centre for Quantum Computation, which quickly grew into a large interdisciplinary enterprise dealing with quantum computing from both the theoretical and experimental-technological sides.
Arthur Ekert currently works at the University of Oxford and the National University of Singapore, where he led the Centre for Quantum Technologies there from 2009 to 2020. In 2016, he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society. In addition to his work in computer science and quantum cryptography, he also publishes popular science and history of science articles. His hobbies include scuba diving and piloting.