PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Emanuel H. Knill

Also known as Emanuel Knill, Manny Knill

Emanuel Knill is a mathematician and quantum information researcher whose work formalized quantum error correction, fault tolerance and linear-optics methods for quantum computing. He earned a PhD from the University of Colorado and worked at Los Alamos in 1996, where he and Raymond Laflamme set conditions for perfect recovery of an encoded quantum state. A 1997 paper with Laflamme and Zurek showed that arbitrarily accurate quantum computations are possible below an error threshold; with Milburn, he described a linear-optics scheme with detector feedback in 2000. A March 2005 design used a qubit hierarchy checked through teleportation; Knill became an American Physical Society Fellow in March 2006 and shared the 2020 NIST Gold Medal for deterministic gate teleportation between physically separated trapped ions. In 2025, he was a NIST physicist and CU Boulder Physics lecturer on the team behind CURBy; as of October 2026, he is a CU Boulder Physics lecturer and NIST researcher who coauthors work on homodyne measurements for continuous-variable quantum computing.

Works
278
Citations
25,313
h-index
71
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1996

    Los Alamos and error correction

    His PhD is from the University of Colorado. In 1996, he is a staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory and, with Raymond Laflamme, develops necessary and sufficient conditions for perfect recovery of an encoded quantum state after an interaction.

  2. 1997

    Quantum faults below threshold

    With Raymond Laflamme and Wojciech H. Zurek, he shows in 1997 that arbitrarily accurate quantum computations are possible when the error per operation stays below a threshold.

  3. 2000

    Linear-optics quantum computing

    With Laflamme and Milburn, he shows in 2000 that single photon sources, passive linear optics and photo-detectors can support reliable quantum algorithms when detector feedback controls the optical elements.

  4. March 2005

    Qubits for noisy devices

    In March 2005, he proposes a pyramid-style hierarchy of smaller qubit blocks, using teleportation at key intervals to double-check the accuracy of qubit values.

  5. March 2006

    An APS fellowship

    In March 2006, he becomes a Fellow of the American Physical Society for contributions to quantum error correction, tolerable error rates and linear-optics quantum computing.

  6. 2020

    A NIST Gold Medal

    In 2020, he and Scott Glancy, Andrew Wilson and Dietrich Leibfried receive a NIST Gold Medal for the world's first demonstration of deterministic quantum gate teleportation between physically separated trapped ions.

  7. 2025

    A verifiable randomness beacon

    In 2025, he is a NIST physicist and CU Boulder Physics lecturer on a team that builds CURBy, a public random-number service that uses quantum entanglement to produce verifiable numbers.

  8. As of October 2026

    Research at CU Boulder and NIST

    He is a lecturer in the University of Colorado Boulder Physics Department and a NIST researcher. In September 2026, he coauthors a paper on homodyne measurements for continuous variable quantum computing.

Career

  1. Since 2004NISTResearcher
  2. 2011–2026University of Colorado BoulderLecturer
  3. 1996–2004Triad National SecurityStaff member

Education

  1. University of ColoradoPhD

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

  1. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public rolesIncludes NIST. Of 216 AI researchers who entered public life, 83 held advisory seats and 58 took public roles. Another 97 people moved from public careers into AI organizations or research, with 62% of dated records starting from 2020 on.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Colorado. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Colorado. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes NIST. 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.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Faculty: Physics | University Catalog 2015-2016 | University of Colorado Boulder catalog-archive.colorado.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. After a Three-Decade Odyssey, Noted Quantum Error Correction Theorist Returns to Maryland quics.umd.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. A Theory of Quantum Error-Correcting Codes arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Resilient Quantum Computation: Error Models and Thresholds arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Efficient Linear Optics Quantum Computation arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Quantum Computing with Realistically Noisy Devices math.nist.gov. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Manny Knill Elected APS Fellow math.nist.gov. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. 2020 Gold Medal Award—Scott Glancy, Emanuel Knill, Andrew Wilson, Dietrich Leibfried | NIST nist.gov. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. Team uses quantum mechanics to make a factory for random number generators colorado.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  10. Emanuel Knill | Physics | University of Colorado Boulder colorado.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  11. Emanuel Knill | NIST nist.gov. Checked 22 October 2026.