Harald Weinfurter
Harald Weinfurter is a physicist who works on quantum optics and quantum networks. He studied technical physics at TU Wien from 1978 and became a professor at LMU Munich in 1999. In 1997 he co-authored a paper on quantum teleportation with Anton Zeilinger and others, and in 2014 he shared the Copernicus Award with Marek Żukowski. His link to AI is a 2023 deep-learning side-channel attack on quantum key distribution, which uses a deep convolutional neural network. As of October 2026, he is a professor in LMU Munich's Faculty of Physics, where his group works on quantum cryptography and quantum networks.
Timeline
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1978–1996
Technical physics at TU Wien
He studies technical physics at TU Wien from 1978, earns his doctorate in 1987, and completes his habilitation at Innsbruck in 1996.
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1997
Quantum teleportation in Nature
He co-authors 'Experimental quantum teleportation' with Anton Zeilinger and others in 1997. The photon that receives the state can be arbitrarily far away from the original one.
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1999
Professor of quantum optics
He becomes a professor of quantum optics at LMU Munich in 1999.
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2003–2004
Philip Morris and Descartes prizes
He receives the Philip Morris Research Prize in 2003 and the Descartes Prize of the European Union in 2004.
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2010
A Max Planck fellowship
He becomes a Max Planck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in 2010.
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2014–2015
Copernicus and Schrödinger prizes
He shares the 2014 Copernicus Award with Marek Żukowski. In 2015 his team, with Florian Moll of the German Aerospace Center, receives the Erwin Schrödinger Prize.
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2023
A deep-learning side-channel attack
In 2023 he co-authors software for a deep-learning side-channel attack on quantum key distribution. A paper on the attack uses a deep convolutional neural network to analyze radio-frequency emissions.
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As of October 2026
An experimental quantum physics group
He is a professor in LMU Munich's Faculty of Physics, where his group works on quantum cryptography, key distribution, quantum repeaters and quantum networks.
Sources and credits
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- Harald Weinfurter – Wikipedia
- Quantum teleportation - Wikipedia
- Experimental quantum teleportation | Nature
- Professor Harald Weinfurter is honoured with the Copernicus Award 2014 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft | Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
- Erwin Schrödinger-Preis für Harald Weinfurter - LMU München
- Deep-learning-based radio-frequency side-channel attack on quantum key distribution | Phys. Rev. Applied
- [2310.13738] Deep-Learning-Based Radio-Frequency Side-Channel Attack on Quantum Key Distribution
- Contact - Experimental Quantum Physics - LMU Munich
- Experimentelle Quantenphysik, AG Weinfurter, Fakultät für Physik, LMU München: Bayern Innovativ