Quantum Simulation Pioneer Immanuel Bloch Awarded Wolf Prize

2 October 2026

Immanuel Bloch, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and Professor at LMU Munich, shares the prize with the US physicist Jun Ye. With the distinction, the Wolf Foundation is recognising the two researchers’ “groundbreaking, widely applicable advances in the control of ultracold atomic systems”.

Bloch’s research is characterised by a fundamental challenge in modern physics: understanding the behaviour of complex quantum many-body systems consisting of interacting particles. Such systems play an important role, amongother things, in the properties of solids and novel quantum materials. However, their dynamics are so complex, even with a relatively small number of particles, that they can only be calculated to a limited extent using classical computers.

Bloch and his team have made a decisive contribution to establishing a different experimental approach to such systems through what is known as quantum simulation. In this process, the researchers arranged ultracold atoms in optical lattices formed by laser light. In these experimentally created artificial quantum systems, the interactions between individual particles can be controlled and observed with enormous precision. The ultracold atoms thus become model systems with which fundamental phenomena of the quantum world can be investigated under precisely defined conditions.

Among his groundbreaking work is the observation of the quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a so-called Mott insulator. Furthermore, Bloch carried out pioneering work in the field of quantum gas microscopy, investigated many-particle localisation and observed the evolution of a fermionic Mott insulator from a pseudogap metal to a Fermi liquid.

According to the Wolf Foundation, Bloch’s work has had a decisive influence on the paradigm of quantum simulation. His research has far-reaching implications for modern physics and for new quantum technologies. Quantum simulators make it possible to replicate and investigate complex quantum systems under controlled conditions, thereby enabling a better understanding of the fundamental properties of quantum matter.

“That really was a huge surprise yesterday! I am delighted to share this prestigious award with Jun Ye from Boulder. It is also a wonderful recognition for all the members of our teams and for Munich as a centre of research.” - Immanuel Bloch

Immanuel Bloch is Director at the MPQ and a professor at LMU, where he conducts research at the interface of quantum optics, quantum simulation and quantum information. As one of three spokespersons, he is also among the leading scientists of the Munich Centre for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) Cluster of Excellence and is involved in the Munich Quantum Valley.

The Wolf Prize has been awarded since 1978 to outstanding researchers and artists. In the natural sciences, it is awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, mathematics and agriculture. The prize is endowed with 100,000 US dollars.

Text adapted from the MPQ Website.