Dr. Ofer Firstenberg

Department of Physics of Complex Systems Weizmann Institute of Science

Dr. Ofer Firstenberg was born in Israel in 1979. He completed his BSc summa cum laude in physics in 2000 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as part of the prestigious “Talpiot” program of the Ministry of Defense. Dr. Firstenberg then obtained his MSc summa cum laude (2006) and PhD (2010) in physics at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, while also working as head of a quantum optics group and sub-department manager at Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. In 2011, Dr. Firstenberg began his postdoctoral training at the Harvard University Quantum Optics Center, in cooperation with the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics. Dr. Firstenberg joined the Weizmann Institute of Science in September 2014.

Dr. Firstenberg’s subject of interest is quantum optics—the way in which quantum information is carried and manipulated by light photons and atoms. This topic is considered critical for the development of quantum computers, yet scientists have yet to succeed in harnessing photons to process quantum bits. However, in a recent study conducted during Dr. Firstenberg’s postdoctoral fellowship in MIT, the team was able to couple two photons in a bond which resembles a molecule, by using cold Rubidium atoms as a medium. This extraordinary observation proved that photons can, under certain conditions, interact with each other strongly enough to carry out quantum computations.

Dr. Firstenberg’s prizes include a European Research Council Starting Grant (2016), the Alon Fellowship (2015), the Sir Charles Clore Prize for Outstanding Appointment as Senior Scientist at the Weizmann Institute (2014), the Harvard Quantum-Optics Center Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Rothschild Fellowship, the Katzir Scholarship for scholastic excellence and leadership potential, and the Israel Physical Society Prize in experimental physics.

Dr. Firstenberg is married and has three children.