Yakir Aharonov

Yakir Aharonov is an Israeli physicist known for his important work in quantum physics. Born on August 28, 1932, he has made many contributions to our understanding of how tiny particles behave. Since 2008, he has been a professor at Chapman University in California.

Aharonov has also taught at the Perimeter Institute, Tel Aviv University, and the University of South Carolina. In June 2024, he was elected to the Royal Society of London, a group that recognizes outstanding achievements in science. His work continues to influence many scientists around the world.

Biography

Yakir Aharonov was born in Haifa. He studied at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, earning a BSc in 1956 and later a Ph.D. in 1960 from Bristol University, UK. He taught at Brandeis University and the Yeshiva University in the United States. He is married to Nily and has two children. His brother, Dov Aharonov, and niece, Dorit Aharonov, are also professors.

Academic career

Yakir Aharonov studied quantum mechanics and worked on special effects in this area. In 1959, he and David Bohm proposed something called the Aharonov–Bohm effect, for which Aharonov received the Wolf Prize in 1998.

Later, in 1988, Aharonov and two colleagues published a theory about weak values, trying to show that events in the future can affect what happens now. He also predicted another effect called the Aharonov–Casher effect with a colleague named Aharon Casher.

Aharonov worked at many universities over the years, including Yeshiva University, Tel Aviv University, the University of South Carolina, George Mason University, and since 2008, he has been a professor at Chapman University.

Main article: Aharonov–Bohm effect

Awards and recognition

Yakir Aharonov has received many important awards for his work in physics. Some of his notable recognitions include the Weizmann Prize in Physics in 1984, the Israel Prize in exact science in 1989, and the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1998, which he shared with Michael Berry.

He was also honored with the National Medal of Science in 2010, awarded by President Barack Obama, and in 2024, he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. Additionally, Aharonov was named a leading candidate for the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for his influential contributions to quantum physics.