Seth Lloyd

Category:Use American English from January 2019Category:All Wikipedia articles written in American English

Seth Lloyd
Seth Lloyd in 2013
Born (1960-08-02) August 2, 1960 (age 65)
Alma materPhillips Academy
Harvard College
Cambridge University
Rockefeller University
Known forCoherent information
Continuous-variable quantum information
Dynamical decoupling
Effective complexity
HHL algorithm
Quantum capacity
Quantum illumination
Scientific career
FieldsQuantum information science
InstitutionsMIT
Caltech
Los Alamos
Santa Fe Institute
Doctoral advisorHeinz Pagels
Category:Articles with hCards

Seth Lloyd (born August 2, 1960) is an American quantum information scientist and professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering.

He is known for work in quantum information science, including work on designs for a quantum computer, quantum analog computation, quantum analogs of Shannon's theorem, and methods for quantum error correction and noise reduction.[1]

Biography

Lloyd was born on August 2, 1960. Lloyd's mother was Susan Lloyd, a history teacher at Phillips Andover.[2][3] His maternal grandparents were Rustin McIntosh, a pediatrician, and Millicent Carey McIntosh, an educational administrator.[2] His father, Robert Lloyd, was an art teacher at Phillips Andover.[2][4] His paternal grandparents were teachers of history and dance at Phillips Exeter.[4]

Lloyd graduated from Phillips Academy in 1978 and received a BA from Harvard College in 1982. He completed Part III and an MPhil from Cambridge University in 1983 and 1984 while on a Marshall Scholarship.[5] Lloyd completed a PhD in physics at Rockefeller University in 1988 advised by Heinz Pagels.

From 1988 to 1991, Lloyd was a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech working with Murray Gell-Mann on applications of information to quantum systems, and from 1991 to 1994 he was a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory working on quantum computation. In 1994 he joined the mechanical engineering department at MIT. Lloyd has also been an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute.

In 2007 he was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society.[6] In 2012 he was given the International Quantum Communication Award.[7]

Work

Lloyd directs the Center for Extreme Quantum Information Theory (xQIT) at MIT.[8] He has made several contributions to quantum information science, including a proposal for a digital quantum simulator,[9] a framework for quantum metrology,[10] a treatment of continuous-variable quantum information,[11] dynamical decoupling as a method of quantum error mitigation,[12] and research on the possible relevance of quantum effects in biological phenomena, such as photosynthesis.[13][14]

With Aram Harrow and Avinatan Hassidim he introduced the HHL algorithm[15] for solving systems of linear equations, and later several quantum machine learning algorithms based on it.[16][17] These algorithms were widely thought to give an exponential speedup relative to the best classical algorithms, until the discovery by Ewin Tang of classical algorithms achieving the same exponential speedup.[18]

In his 2006 book, Programming the Universe, Lloyd contends that the universe itself is a large quantum computer. According to Lloyd, once the laws of physics are understood completely, small-scale quantum computing can be used to understand the universe completely as well. He states that the whole universe could be simulated on a computer in 600 years provided that computational power increases according to Moore's Law.[19]

Association with Jeffrey Epstein

Lloyd was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein by his literary agent John Brockman at the Edge Billionaires' Dinner in 2004.[20] Lloyd appears in a photo taken at a dinner hosted by Epstein at Harvard in 2004, together with several other Harvard and MIT faculty.[21] Photos of Lloyd, and other professors, appeared in blogs maintained by Epstein and his foundation.[22][23]Category:All articles with failed verificationCategory:Articles with failed verification from February 2025[failed verification] Lloyd acknowledged funding from Epstein in 19 papers,[24] visited Epstein in prison after his conviction,[25] and visited Epstein's private island for a scientific conference.[26] The Epstein files, released in 2025 and 2026, seemingly included several hundred emails from Lloyd or about Lloyd.[27][28]

Public controversy began in July 2019, when reports surfaced that MIT and other institutions had accepted funding from Epstein.[29] Lloyd's connections to Epstein drew strong criticism at MIT. In August 2019, Lloyd published a letter apologizing for accepting grants totaling $225,000 from Epstein.[25] The controversy at MIT continued despite this, including student protests demanding Lloyd's resignation and criticizing MIT's decision to allow him to continue teaching.[26][30][31][32][33][34][35]

The MIT Corporation hired a law firm to prepare a report on MIT's many interactions with Epstein, which was released in January 2020.[36] Concerning Lloyd, the report stated that Epstein had made two donations of $50,000 to Lloyd that were meant to test whether MIT would still accept his donations despite his criminal conviction.[37]: 13  The report further stated that Lloyd took deliberate steps "to obscure the fact that Epstein was the donor and to hinder any possible due diligence or vetting by MIT."[37]: 20  Lloyd denied that he had misled MIT.[38][39]

After the release of the report, MIT appointed a committee of five senior MIT faculty to assess whether Lloyd had violated any MIT policy.[40] In December 2020, the committee reported that Lloyd did not attempt to circumvent the MIT vetting process, and Lloyd was allowed to keep his tenured faculty position.[41] However, a majority of the committee members concluded that Lloyd had violated MIT policy by not disclosing "crucial information about Epstein’s background."[40] A separate evaluation panel set a series of disciplinary actions over the next 5 years, including limits on Lloyd's ability to solicit donors and to advise students.[40][41] Some students saw the administration's response as too lenient.[42]

Selected publications

Notes

  1. ↑ MIT News Office (2015-08-31). "Seth Lloyd, leading quantum mechanics expert, appointed Nam P. Suh Professor". Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "WEDDINGS; Eve Zimmerman and Seth Lloyd". The New York Times. 1994-05-29. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
  3. ↑ Lloyd, Robert (2018-09-06). "From Abbot to Andover, an education icon—Susan McIntosh Lloyd". Andover. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
  4. 1 2 "Remembering Robert A. Lloyd". Andover. 2024-11-14. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
  5. ↑ "OYSI". oysi.org. Retrieved 2022-05-23.
  6. ↑ "2007 Fellows of the American Physical Society".
  7. ↑ "2012 QCMC".
  8. ↑ "People: xQIT: Leadership". mit.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  9. ↑ Seth Lloyd (1996). "Universal Quantum Simulators". Science. 273 (5278): 1073–1078. Bibcode:1996Sci...273.1073L. doi:10.1126/science.273.5278.1073. PMID 8688088.
  10. ↑ Giovannetti, Vittorio; Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo (2006). "Quantum Metrology". Phys. Rev. Lett. 96 (1) 010401. arXiv:quant-ph/0509179. Bibcode:2006PhRvL..96a0401G. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.010401. PMID 16486424. S2CID 32512151.
  11. ↑ Lloyd, Seth; Braunstein, Samuel L. (1999). "Quantum Computation over Continuous Variables". Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (8): 1784–1787. arXiv:quant-ph/9810082. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.1784L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1784. S2CID 921320.
  12. ↑ Viola, Lorenza; Knill, Emanuel; Lloyd, Seth (1999). "Dynamical Decoupling of Open Quantum Systems". Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 (12): 2417–2421. arXiv:quant-ph/9809071. Bibcode:1999PhRvL..82.2417V. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.2417.
  13. ↑ Mohseni, Masoud; Rebentrost, Patrick; Lloyd, Seth; Aspuru-Guzik, Alán (2008). "Environment-assisted quantum walks in photosynthetic energy transfer". J. Chem. Phys. 129 (17): 174106. arXiv:0805.2741. Bibcode:2008JChPh.129q4106M. doi:10.1063/1.3002335. PMID 19045332. S2CID 938902.
  14. ↑ Lloyd, Seth (2011). "Quantum coherence in biological systems". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 302 (1) 012037. Bibcode:2011JPhCS.302a2037L. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/302/1/012037. ISSN 1742-6596.
  15. ↑ Harrow, Aram W.; Hassidim, Avinatan; Lloyd, Seth (2009). "Quantum Algorithm for Linear Systems of Equations". Phys. Rev. Lett. 103 (15) 150502. arXiv:0811.3171. Bibcode:2009PhRvL.103o0502H. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.150502. PMID 19905613.
  16. ↑ Lloyd, S.; Mohseni, M.; Rebentrost, P. (2014). "Quantum principal component analysis". Nature Physics. 10 (9): 631–633. arXiv:1307.0401. Bibcode:2014NatPh..10..631L. doi:10.1038/nphys3029.
  17. ↑ Rebentrost, Patrick; Mohseni, Masoud; Lloyd, Seth (2014). "Quantum Support Vector Machine for Big Data Classification". Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 (13) 130503. arXiv:1307.0471. Bibcode:2014PhRvL.113m0503R. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.130503. PMID 25302877. S2CID 5503025.
  18. ↑ Tang, Ewin (2021). "Quantum Principal Component Analysis Only Achieves an Exponential Speedup Because of Its State Preparation Assumptions". Physical Review Letters. 127 (6) 060503. arXiv:1811.00414. Bibcode:2021PhRvL.127f0503T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.060503. PMID 34420330. S2CID 236956378.
  19. ↑ Lloyd, Seth (20 October 2002). "THE COMPUTATIONAL UNIVERSE". Edge.org. Edge Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2020. 'Every physical system registers information, and just by evolving in time, by doing its thing, it changes that information ...'
  20. ↑ Chen, Angela (2020-01-10). "Eight revelations from MIT's Jeffrey Epstein report". MIT Technology Review.
  21. ↑ "September 9, 2004 Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Jeffrey Epstein at a dinner he hosted at Harvard University with Harvard Professors, Alan Dershowitz, Steven Pinker, Princeton Professor Robert Trivers, Larry Summers, E.O. Wilson,, Marvin Minsky, Lisa Randall, Martin Nowak. Alan Guth, September, 2004. (Rick Friedman Stock Photo". Alamy. 2004-09-09.
  22. ↑ "Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation Blog: PHOTOS". jeffreyepsteinblog.com. 2013-03-12. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  23. ↑ "Profiles in Science". jeffreyepsteinscience.com. 2011-04-15. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13.
  24. ↑ Tracy, Marc; Hsu, Tiffany (2019-08-23). "Jeffrey Epstein Donations to M.I.T. Will be Focus of University Inquiry". The New York Times.
  25. 1 2 Lloyd, Seth (2019-08-24). "I am writing to apologize to Jeffrey Epstein's victims". medium.com.
  26. 1 2 War, MIT Students Against (2019-11-21). "The case of Seth Lloyd is a microcosm of the systemic problems at MIT". The Tech. Retrieved 2025-06-28.
  27. ↑ "BREAKING: Epstein's ties with MIT further revealed in latest DoJ document release". The Tech. 2026-02-02.
  28. ↑ "BREAKING: Mechanical Engineering lecturer Michele Reilly, associate of Professor Seth Lloyd, visited Epstein's island in 2015". The Tech. 2026-02-10.
  29. ↑ Aldhous, Peter (2019-07-11). "Jeffrey Epstein Called Himself A "Science Philanthropist" And Donated Millions To These Researchers". Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  30. ↑ Graham, Eleanor. "Seth Lloyd should not be teaching at MIT". The Tech. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  31. ↑ Gurley, Lauren Kaori (2019-11-04). "Students Are Demanding MIT Fire a Professor Who Visited Epstein in Prison". Vice. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  32. ↑ Tolchin, Rion (2019-12-05). "Seth Lloyd should continue teaching at MIT". The Tech. Cambridge, MA. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  33. ↑ Chen, Kristina (2019-10-03). "Student forum about MIT-Epstein relations held with Reif, senior admin present". The Tech.
  34. ↑ War, MIT Students Against (2019-11-24). "The Case Against Seth Lloyd. Seth Lloyd, the tenured professor of…". Medium.
  35. ↑ @MIT_SAW (November 24, 2019). "Seth Lloyd: "I saw [Jeffrey Epstein] on many occasions. I never saw him with underage women. And I actually never saw him do anything creepy. But the one creepy thing about him... "" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. ↑ "MIT and Jeffrey Epstein". factfinding2020.mit.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  37. 1 2 "Report concerning Jeffrey Epstein's interactions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology" (PDF). 2020-01-10.
  38. ↑ Lloyd, Seth (2020-01-16). "What I told MIT about Epstein's donations". medium.com. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
  39. ↑ Lu, Kerri (2020-01-23). "Seth Lloyd denies he hid Epstein's identity from MIT, says he followed MIT policies". The Tech.
  40. 1 2 3 "Decision on Professor Seth Lloyd". MIT Organization Chart. 2020-12-18.
  41. 1 2 Stening, Tanner (2020-12-18). "Massachusetts Institute of Technology disciplining professor with ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein". MassLive. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  42. ↑ Domínguez, Alonso Espinosa; Hodel, Matt; Lizarde, Rebecca; Fields, Gabe (2021-02-25). "Don't be surprised by the administration's decision on Seth Lloyd". The Tech.
  43. ↑ Seth Lloyd at IMDb Edit this at WikidataCategory:Pages using IMDb title with no id set
  44. ↑ Lloyd, Seth; Maccone, Lorenzo; Garcia-Patron, Raul; Giovannetti, Vittorio; Shikano, Yutaka; Pirandola, Stefano; Rozema, Lee A.; Darabi, Ardavan; Soudagar, Yasaman; Shalm, Lynden K.; Steinberg, Aephraim M. (2011). "Closed Timelike Curves via Postselection: Theory and Experimental Test of Consistency". Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 (4) 040403. arXiv:1005.2219. Bibcode:2011PhRvL.106d0403L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.040403. PMID 21405310. S2CID 18442086.
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