Jonathan Oppenheim facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jonathan Oppenheim
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| Born |
Cape Town, South Africa
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| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BSc, 1993) University of British Columbia (PhD, 2000) |
| Awards | Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award EPSRC Established Career Fellowship |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | quantum information theory quantum gravity |
| Institutions | University College London University of Cambridge Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University University of Alberta |
| Thesis | Quantum Time (2000) |
| Doctoral advisor | Bill Unruh |
Jonathan Oppenheim is a brilliant scientist and a professor of physics at University College London in the UK. He is a leading expert in two very complex and exciting areas of science: quantum information theory and quantum gravity. These fields try to understand the universe at its smallest scales and how gravity works there.
Life and Discoveries
Jonathan Oppenheim studied at the University of Toronto, where he earned his first degree in 1993. Later, he completed his advanced degree (called a PhD) at the University of British Columbia in 2001. His PhD research was about Quantum Time, focusing on how time behaves for tiny particles in quantum mechanics. His supervisor was a famous physicist named Bill Unruh.
In 2004, he continued his research at the University of Cambridge. He worked with another well-known scientist, Jacob Bekenstein, before moving to University College London.
Quantum Information and Thermodynamics
In 2005, Jonathan Oppenheim and his colleagues, Michał Horodecki and Andreas Winter, made an important discovery. They found something called "quantum state-merging". This discovery helped them show that quantum information can sometimes be "negative".
Building on this work, Oppenheim and his team developed new ideas about thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is the study of heat and energy. Their work helps us understand how energy works at a very tiny level, like with atoms and molecules.
In 2017, Oppenheim worked with Lluis Masanes to explore the third law of thermodynamics. They used ideas from quantum information to explain this law. They also figured out how fast information can be erased.
A New Theory of Spacetime
In 2023, Oppenheim suggested a new idea about how our universe works. He proposed a "hybrid theory" that combines two big ideas in physics. One is general relativity, which describes gravity and large-scale space. The other is quantum field theory, which describes tiny particles.
According to his idea, spacetime (the fabric of the universe) might not be made of tiny, separate pieces. Instead, he thinks it could be smooth and continuous. However, he believes it might have small, random changes happening all the time. This is a very interesting new way to think about gravity and the universe.
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In Spanish: Jonathan Oppenheim para niños
