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K-State Today

April 24, 2014

Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist to present general public lecture in physics

Submitted by Kim Coy

Dr. Edward Farhi

Edward Farhi, professor of physics and director of the Center for Theoretical Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present the 2014 James R. Neff Lecture in Physics.

His lecture, "Quantum Computing," will be at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, in Town Hall at the Leadership Studies Building. This lecture will not be of a technical level and is geared toward the general public. Refreshments will be served at 4 p.m. in 113 Leadership Studies Building.

Farhi went to Brandeis University — A.B., 1973 — before getting his doctorate from Harvard in 1978. He was then on the staff at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and at CERN in Geneva Switzerland before coming to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1982.

Farhi was trained as a theoretical particle physicist but also has worked on astrophysics, general relativity and the foundations of quantum mechanics. His present interest is the theory of quantum computation, which uses quantum physics to create computing algorithms that can solve problems too complex for conventional computers. He teaches both undergraduates and graduate students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has won three consecutive teaching awards — in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

The lecture is open to the public and is free of charge. Students, faculty and community members are encouraged to attend to hear about Farhi's research. Read more about his lecture.

This lecture series is supported by an endowment from James R. Neff in honor of his parents, Everett and Florine Neff.