Scienceיקיר אהרונוב

Yakir Aharonov

Yakir Aharonov is an Israeli physicist in quantum physics, known for the Aharonov-Bohm effect, proposed with David Bohm in 1959.

born 1932The Aharonov-Bohm effectWeak measurements and weak valuesThe two-state vector formalismThe Aharonov-Casher effect

Born: 28 August 1932, Haifa
Occupation: physicist, university teacher
Education: University of Bristol, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology

Yakir Aharonov was born in 1932 in Haifa

Aharonov was born in Haifa in 1932, the eldest son of Hillel and Dola Aharonov. In 1935 the family moved to Kiryat Haim, where he went to high school. As a youth he played the violin and enjoyed chess.

He served in the IDF Artillery Corps. In 1952 he began studying at the Technion, first mathematics and then physics, and earned a BSc in 1956. He followed his advisor David Bohm to Bristol University and received a PhD in 1960.

In 1959 he and Bohm proposed the Aharonov-Bohm effect. He taught at Brandeis University and Yeshiva University, then held joint posts at Tel Aviv University and the University of South Carolina. He later taught at George Mason University and, from 2008, at Chapman University in California.

In 1988 he published the theory of weak values with David Albert and Lev Vaidman. With Aharon Casher he predicted the Aharonov-Casher effect. His awards include the Israel Prize in 1989 and the Wolf Prize in Physics in 1998.

He is married to Nily, an educational psychologist, and has 2 children. In 2024 he was elected to the Royal Society of London.