Ever since childhood, Yakir has had a passion for the riddles of nature and logic. He completed his BA at the Technion and PhD with David Bohm at Bristol University. Subsequent appointments worldwide followed. Currently, he is the Director of The Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University.
Notable Discoveries: The Aharonov-Bohm Effect, the Aharonov-Casher Effect, the ABL Two-State Vector Formalism, Weak values, Weak and protective measurements, Super-oscillations, and Quantum walk.
Notable Elections: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and National Academy of Sciences, USA.
Notable Prizes: Weizmann Prize, Rothschild Prize, Israel Prize, EMET Prize, The Franklin Institute's Elliott Cresson Medal, Hewlett–Packard Europhysics Prize, Wolf Prize, and The National Medal of Science presented by President Barack Obama.
He keeps pursuing riddles, incessantly challenging the mathematical formalism's limits while guided by the simplicity and beauty of physical law. Laboratory experiments keep verifying his predictions, even the most surprising ones. The Two-State Vector formalism bears on several issues in theoretical physics and cosmology, as well as on the workings of the mind.
Professional position
- Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University
- Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Physics, Institute for Quantum Studies, Chapman University