Stephen Wiesner

{{Short description|Israeli research physicist (1942–2021)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Stephen Wiesner

| image = Steve8.jpg

| caption = Wiesner in 1988

| birth_name =

| birth_date = August 30, 1942 {{cn|date=November 2022}}

| birth_place = US

| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|08|12|1942}}

| death_place = Jerusalem

| citizenship = US, Israel

| workplaces =

| patrons =

| education = Brandeis University

| alma_mater = Columbia University

| thesis_title = Experimental test of the rotational invariance of the weak interaction

| thesis_url = https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/1611004?counter=1

| thesis_year = 1972

| notable_works = Conjugate Coding, 1983 (published)

| known_for = {{hlist| Quantum information theory | superdense coding |quantum money | quantum multiplexing }}

| fields = quantum information

| awards = Rank Prize (2006) Micius Quantum Prize (2019)

| parents = Jerome Wiesner, Laya Wiesner

}}

Stephen J. Wiesner (1942 – August 12, 2021){{Cite web|url=https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=5730|title=Shtetl-Optimized » Blog Archive » Stephen Wiesner (1942-2021)}} was an American-Israeli research physicist, inventor and construction laborer. As a graduate student at Columbia University in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he discovered several of the most important ideas in quantum information theory, including quantum money{{cite web|last=Satell|first=Greg|title=The Very Strange—And Fascinating—Ideas behind IBM's Quantum Computer|work= Forbes|date= July 10, 2016|url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2016/07/10/the-very-strange-and-fascinating-ideas-behind-ibms-quantum-computer/}} (which led to quantum key distribution), quantum multiplexingS.J. Wiesner, "Conjugate Coding", SIGACT News 15:1, pp. 78–88, 1983. (the earliest example of oblivious transfer) and superdense coding{{cite journal |first1=C. |last1=Bennett |first2=S. J. |last2=Wiesner |title=Communication via one- and two-particle operators on Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen states |journal=Phys. Rev. Lett. |volume=69 |pages=2881–2884 |year=1992 |issue=20 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.2881 |pmid=10046665 }} (the first and most basic example of entanglement-assisted communication). Although this work remained unpublished for over a decade, it circulated widely enough in manuscript form to stimulate the emergence of quantum information science in the 1980s and 1990s.

Stephen Wiesner is the son of Jerome Wiesner[https://books.google.com/books?id=mkO1PGlMzS0C&pg=PT281 How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival], by David Kaiser and Laya Wiesner. He received his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. In 2006 he shared the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics with Charles H. Bennett, and Gilles Brassard for quantum cryptography. In 2019, he received one of six Micius Quantum Prizes, along with Bennett, Brassard, Artur Ekert, Anton Zeilinger and Pan Jianwei for quantum communication.

In the 1970’s, after leaving academia, he worked in many different Silicon Valley startups while also working on weekends at a fruits and vegetable distribution co-op. During this time he became interested in Judaism and in finding solutions for solar energy, clean energy and space migration.

After moving to Israel, in addition to his religious study, Wiesner worked part time in construction and as a surveyor. He continued to work constantly on inventions, ideas and prototypes, mostly related to clean energy, sustainability and space travel. {{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Aaronson |title=Quantum Computing Since Democritus |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521199568 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRGfhSoFx0oC&pg=PA127 |access-date=8 August 2018}} He remained affiliated with the Quantum Foundations & Information Group at Tel Aviv University.{{cite web |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/grapevine-total-separation-625657 |title=Grapevine: Total separation |author=Greer Fay Cashman |work=Jerusalem Post |date=2020-04-23 |access-date=2021-08-14}}{{cite web |url=https://www.tau.ac.il/~quantum/people.html |title=People@Quantum |work=tau.ac.il |access-date=2021-08-14}}