{{short description|Russian physicist}} {{Infobox scientist |image = |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|10|10}} |birth_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR |death_place = |workplaces = Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics<br>Harvard University |alma_mater = MIPT<br>Texas A&M University |doctoral_advisor = Marlan Scully |thesis_title = Quantum Coherence and Interference in Optics and Laser Spectroscopy |thesis_year = 1998 |field = Physics |website = |awards = }} '''Mikhail Lukin''' ({{langx|ru|Михаи́л Дми́триевич Луки́н}}; born 10 October 1971) is a Russian theoretical and experimental physicist and a professor at Harvard University.<ref name=mpq>{{cite news|date=4 March 2009|accessdate=16 January 2019|url=https://www.mpq.mpg.de/4865707/09_03_04|title=Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Mikhail Lukin}}</ref> He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2018.

==Early life== Mikhail "Misha" Lukin was born in Moscow, Russia. He studied physics and mathematics at MIPT, and he graduated in 1993. Following his graduation, he joined Texas A&M University where he wrote a research paper titled ''Quantum Coherence and Interference in Optics and Laser Spectroscopy'' that he used for his Ph.D. thesis. Between this and 1994 he was a visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching, Germany. Later on he became a postdoc at Texas A&M University and then became a fellow, and later joint director, of the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics a division of Center for Astrophysics {{!}} Harvard & Smithsonian. In 2001 he became an assistant professor at Harvard and three years later became its professor.<ref name=mpq/> In 2023, Lukin became the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor at Harvard University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quantum Physicist Mikhail Lukin Appointed University Professor {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/3/23/lukin-appointed-university-professor/ |access-date=2023-06-17 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref>

==Research== In 2005 he proposed an idea to use quantum computing mail rather than Email which is already used by both Harvard and Boston Universities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2005/09/lukin-illuminates-quantum-science-2/|author=William J. Cromie|title=Lukin illuminates quantum science|work=Harvard Gazette|date=22 September 2005|accessdate=16 January 2019}}</ref> He and Vladan Vuletic<ref>{{cite news|url=https://phys.org/news/2013-09-scientists-never-before-seen.html|title=Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter|date=25 September 2013|accessdate=16 January 2019}}</ref> experimentally confirmed a new type of matter in which photonic molecules can be used to create a lightsaber-like technology.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.military.com/defensetech/2013/09/27/harvard-and-mit-bind-photons-like-light-sabers|author=Bryant Jordan|title=Harvard and MIT Bind Photons Like Light Sabers|publisher=Defense.org|date=27 September 2013|accessdate=16 January 2019}}</ref>

In a 2013 interview with ''The Harvard Crimson'' he explained that he observed the matter the same way as it is in the movies, but unlike the movies the objects don't pass through each other but rather behave like solid objects.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/10/12/hey-professor-lightsabers/|author=Kathryn J. Gundersen|title=Hey Professor: Mikhail D. Lukin|date=12 October 2013|accessdate=16 January 2019}}</ref>

Lukin is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Mikhail Lukin|url=https://www.osa.org/en-us/history/biographies/bios/mikhail_lukin/|website=OSA}}</ref>

==Awards== *2000 &ndash; The Optical Society of America Adolph Lomb Medal<ref name=":0" /> *2009 &ndash; American Physical Society I. I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Lukin&first_nm=Mikhail&year=2009|title=2009 I.I. Rabi Prize in Atomic, Molecular & Optical Phy Recipient|publisher=American Physics Society|accessdate=16 January 2019}}</ref> *2021 &ndash; The Optical Society of America Charles Hard Townes Medal for pioneering theoretical and experimental contributions to quantum nonlinear optics and quantum information science and technology, and for the development and application of nanoscale quantum systems for sensing<ref name=":0" /> *2022 &ndash; American Physical Society Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, and in Precision Tests of Fundamental Laws and Symmetries<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norman F. Ramsey Prize in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, and in Precision Tests of Fundamental Laws and Symmetries |url=http://aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/ramsey.cfm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=aps.org |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{GoogleScholar|ppJpl64AAAAJ}} *[https://www.physics.harvard.edu/people/facpages/lukin Mikhail Lukin]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lukin, Mikhail}} Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Russian physicists Category:Texas A&M University alumni Category:Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni Category:Harvard University faculty Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society

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