‘Father of quantum computing’ wins $3 million physics prize

A theoretical physicist who has never had a regular job has won the most lucrative prize in science for his pioneering contributions to the mind-bending field of quantum computing.

David Deutsch, who is affiliated with the University of Oxford, shares the $3 million Breakthrough prize in fundamental physics with three other researchers who laid the foundations for the broader discipline of quantum information, The Guardian reports.

Deutsch, 69, became known as the “father of quantum computing” after proposing an exotic – and so far unbuildable – machine to test the existence of parallel universes. His paper in 1985 paved the way for the rudimentary quantum computers scientists are working on today.

“It was a thought experiment that involved a computer, and that computer had some quantum components in it,” Deutsch recalls. “Today it would be called a universal quantum computer, but it took another six years for me to think of it as that.”

The Breakthrough prizes, described by their Silicon Valley founders as the Oscars of science, are dished out annually to scientists and mathematicians deemed worthy by committees of previous winners. This year there is one physics prize, three life science prizes, and a further prize in mathematics. Each is worth $3 million.

One life science prize honours researchers who traced narcolepsy to brain cells that are wiped out by wayward immune responses. The discovery has opened the door to new treatments for sleep disorders.