Greetings from Ottawa

Last May, PhD student Ariel Ashkenazy attended "Celebrating 100 Years of Quantum Science," a conference held at the University of Ottawa, Canada. "As the name suggests, this is a one-off conference marking 100 years of quantum science. The conference was organized by NexQT, the University of Ottawa's nexus for quantum technologies institute, specifically Prof. Ebrahim Karimi," says Ashkenazy. "The conference touched on all aspects of quantum science, from the fundamentals of quantum mechanics to advanced quantum technologies, and was attended by dozens of the world's leading researchers in the field, hailing from Canada, the United States, Germany, the UK, and Israel."

Ashkenazy, 35, married and father of three daughters, has attended Bar-Ilan University for his undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate studies. He is now completing his PhD in electro-optics under the supervision of Prof. Dror Fixler and Prof. Eliahu Cohen. "In this case, 1+1 added up to a lot more than 2," he grins. Ashkenazy studies quantum optics, focusing on broadband entangled photons. “My doctoral thesis explores methods for generation and detection of broadband entangled photons, and how they can be used in advanced quantum applications such as imaging and communications."

During the five-day conference, Ashkenazy gave a lecture on the feasibility of implementing a photon-number splitting attack on quantum communication protocols using single-photon Raman interaction. One of his supervisors, Prof. Eliahu Cohen, also gave a talk at the conference. "Response to the lecture was very positive," Ashkenazy shares. "During the conference, which also included breakfast and lunch events—with kosher food!—I had meaningful discussions and formed significant connections that will, G-d willing, lead to long-lasting research collaborations."