ICTP and IBM announce that the 2026 Richard Feynman Prize in Quantum Computing has been awarded to Ignacio Cirac of the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich, Germany, for his seminal contributions to quantum optics, quantum information science, quantum many-body theory, condensed matter theory, and mathematical physics. The prize committee acknowledges Cirac’s central role in establishing the theoretical foundations of quantum information processing, including the theory of entanglement, quantum simulation, and tensor-network methods, profoundly influencing both experimental realizations and theoretical developments across modern physics.
