PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Dieter Jaksch

Dieter Jaksch is a quantum physicist whose work connects quantum computing with machine learning. He studied at Innsbruck, helped propose a Mott insulator for neutral atoms in optical lattices, and held a physics professorship and department leadership role at Oxford. His research tested quantum neural networks for visual learning and applied quantum computing to fluid dynamics; a 2026 paper used topological entanglement entropy to improve variational quantum algorithms. Since October 2021, he has been Professor of Physics at Hamburg, part-time Professor at Oxford and Emeritus Fellow at Keble College.

Now at
Universität Hamburg and Keble College
Works
349
Citations
21,535
h-index
63
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1970–1999

    Physics at Innsbruck

    He is born in Innsbruck in 1970, attends the HTL for telecommunications and electronics, and earns an engineering diploma in 1993. He studies physics at the University of Innsbruck from 1990, earns an MSc in physics in 1996, and completes a natural sciences PhD in 1999 at the Institute of Theoretical Physics under Peter Zoller, with a thesis on Bose-Einstein condensation. In 1998, he and his colleagues theoretically propose a Mott insulator for neutral atoms in optical lattices.

  2. 2003–2010

    Oxford lecturer to professor

    He joins the University of Oxford as a University Lecturer in January 2003, becomes a Reader in October 2008, and becomes Professor of Physics in October 2010.

  3. September 2014–August 2019

    Head of Atomic and Laser Physics

    From September 2014 to August 2019, he heads Atomic and Laser Physics at the University of Oxford.

  4. 2018

    A physics fellowship and medal

    He becomes a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and receives the Thomas Young Medal and Prize in 2018.

  5. 2021

    Quantum self-supervised learning

    In 2021, he coauthors Quantum Self-Supervised Learning, which tests hybrid quantum neural networks for visual representation learning. The team reports a numerical advantage over equivalently structured classical networks and classifies unseen images on IBMQ Paris with equal downstream accuracy.

  6. 2022

    Quantum computing for fluid dynamics

    In 2022, he leads a University of Hamburg consortium that receives €4.9 million in EU funding to develop quantum software for industrial computational fluid dynamics.

  7. 2026

    Topological entropy in quantum algorithms

    In 2026, he coauthors Quantum computation at the edge of chaos, which uses topological entanglement entropy as a regularizer for variational quantum algorithms. The authors report improved convergence and precision for complex data encoding and ground-state search.

  8. Since October 2021

    Professorships in Hamburg and Oxford

    In October 2021, he becomes Professor of Physics at the University of Hamburg and Emeritus Fellow at Keble College, Oxford; he continues as Professor of Physics at Oxford part time.

Career

  1. Since 2020Universität HamburgProfessor of Physics
  2. Since 2003University of OxfordLecturer, Professor of Physics
  3. NowKeble CollegeEmeritus Fellow
  4. 2009–2022National University of Singapore
  5. 2008–2022Centre for Quantum Technologies

Education

  1. 1999Universität InnsbruckMSc in physics and PhD in natural sciences
  2. 1993Higher Technical College for Telecommunications and ElectronicsEngineering diploma

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Oxford. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes University of Oxford. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes University of Oxford. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Pressemitteilung – Universität Innsbruck uibk.ac.at. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Prof. Dr. Dieter Jaksch : Institute for Quantum Physics : University of Hamburg physik.uni-hamburg.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Wechsel nach Oxford – Universität Innsbruck uibk.ac.at. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Professor Dieter Jaksch awarded Thomas Young Medal - Keble College keble.ox.ac.uk. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. [2103.14653] Quantum Self-Supervised Learning arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. 4.9 Million Euro for Calculating Fluid Dynamics : Newsroom : University of Hamburg uni-hamburg.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. [2604.15441] Quantum computation at the edge of chaos arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.