Obituaries

Arlington Resident Roy Glauber, Who Shared Nobel Prize, Dies

The 93-year-old was awarded one-half of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence."

ARLINGTON, MA – Resident Roy Glauber, who shared the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics, has died at the age of 93. Glauser was awarded one-half of the prize "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence," according to the Optical Society of America, which announced his death in late December.

Glauber's prize-winning work centered on his theory that "advanced the understanding of light by describing the behavior of light particles, known as light quanta or photons," the society said. The theory was presented in early 1960s and merged the fields of optics and quantum physics, forming the basis for quantum optics.

Glauber's research helped develop codes in the field of quantum cryptology and played a central role in developing high-speed quantum computers. He was an 80-year-old physics professor at Harvard University when he was awarded the Nobel Prize and at first thought it was a prank, according to the Boston Globe.

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Glauber passed away at Newton-Wellesley Hospital of respiratory failure Dec. 26.

Read Glauber's obituary in the Boston Globe.

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