physics

Stephen Wiesner

Stephen Wiesner is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stephen Wiesner rather than just read about it. In short: Stephen J. Wiesner (1942 – August 12, 2021) was an American-Israeli research physicist, inventor and construction laborer.

Key takeaways

Stephen Wiesner belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stephen Wiesner to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stephen Wiesner from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Stephen J. Wiesner (1942 – August 12, 2021) was an American-Israeli research physicist, inventor and construction laborer. As a graduate student at Columbia University in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he discovered several of the most important ideas in quantum information theory, including quantum money (which led to quantum key distribution), quantum multiplexing (the earliest example of oblivious transfer) and superdense coding (the first and most basic example of entanglement-assisted communication). Although this work remained unpublished for over a decade, it circulated widely enough in manuscript form to stimulate the emergence of quantum information science in the 1980s and 1990s. Stephen Wiesner is the son of Jerome Wiesner and Laya Wiesner. He received his undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. In the 1970s, after leaving academia, he worked in many different Silicon Valley startups while also working on weekends at a fruits and vegetable distribution co-op. During this time he became interested in Judaism and in finding solutions for solar energy, clean energy and space migration. After moving to Israel, in addition to his religious study, Wiesner worked part time in construction and as a surveyor. He continued to work constantly on inventions, ideas and prototypes, mostly related to clean energy, sustainability and space travel. He remained affiliated with the Quantum Foundations & Information Group at Tel Aviv University. In 2006 he shared the Rank Prize in Optoelectronics with Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard for quantum cryptography. In 2019, he received one of six Micius Quantum Prizes, along with Bennett, Brassard, Artur Ekert, Anton Zeilinger and Pan Jianwei, for quantum communication.

References

Further reading The Code Book, Simon Singh, (Doubleday, 1999), pp. 331–338. Jerry Wiesner: scientist, statesman, humanist: memories and memoirs, Jerome Bert Wiesner and Walter A. Rosenblith, (MIT Press, 2003), p. 591. Brief History of Quantum Cryptography: A Personal Perspective, Gilles Bassard, October 17, 2005. Edward Farhi, Aram Harrow (2013). "Quantum, Quantum, Quantum: Cloning, Money, and Monogamy" (PDF). MIT Physics Annual Report. pp. 59–66. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-09.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stephen Wiesner

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stephen Wiesner claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stephen Wiesner before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stephen Wiesner ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stephen Wiesner

In research: Stephen Wiesner appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stephen Wiesner in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stephen Wiesner is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1942 births, 2021 deaths, American physicist stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stephen Wiesner outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stephen Wiesner in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stephen Wiesner means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stephen Wiesner out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stephen Wiesner in simple terms?

Stephen J. Wiesner (1942 – August 12, 2021) was an American-Israeli research physicist, inventor and construction laborer.

Why does Stephen Wiesner matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stephen Wiesner?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stephen Wiesner.