Avshalom Cyrus Elitzur is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 and philosopher.

Biography

Avshalom Elitzur was a senior lecturer at the Unit for Interdisciplinary Studies, Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University

Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...

, Ramat-Gan, Israel. He is noted for the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb-testing problem in quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...

, which was widely publicised by Roger Penrose

Roger Penrose

Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...

 in his book Shadows of the Mind.

Elitzur received no formal university training before obtaining his PhD. His parents emigrated from Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in 1959 when he was two years old, and settled in Rehovot

Rehovot

Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...

. He left school at the age of sixteen and began working as a laboratory technician at the Weizmann Institute of Science

Weizmann Institute of Science

The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....

 in Rehovot.

In 1987, he published his book: Into the Holy of Holies: Psychoanalytic Insights into the Bible and Judaism. During that same year, he was invited to present an unpublished manuscript on quantum mechanics at an international conference in Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 in Philadelphia. Consequently, he was later invited by Yakir Aharonov

Yakir Aharonov

Yakir Aharonov is an Israeli physicist specializing in quantum physics. He is a Professor of Theoretical Physics and the James J. Farley Professor of Natural Philosophy at Chapman University in California. He is also a distinguished professor in Perimeter Institute.He also serves as a professor...

 of Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...

, the doyen of physicists in Israel, to write a doctoral thesis on the subject. He was the chief editor of natural sciences in Encyclopaedia Hebraica

Encyclopaedia Hebraica

The Encyclopaedia Hebraica is a comprehensive encyclopedia in the Hebrew language that was published in the latter half of the 20th century.-History:...

. In 2008, he was a visiting professor at Joseph Fourier University

Joseph Fourier University

Université Joseph Fourier , often known as UJF, is a French university situated in the city of Grenoble and focused on the fields of sciences, technologies and health...

.

Elitzur is the founder of the Iyar, The Israeli Institute for Advanced Research.

Book as a Author

• לפני ולפנים - עיונים פסיכואנליטיים במקרא וביהדות, תל אביב, "ירום"-אליצור, 1987
• זמן ותודעה - תהיות חדשות על חידות עתיקות, אוניברסיטה משודרת, 1994,

Book Edited

• 'Endophysics, Time, Quantum and the Subjective', edited by Rosolino Buccheri, Avshalom C Elitzur and Metod Saniga; Germany, Bielefeld, 2005 ISBN 9789812565099
• 'Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics?' (The Frontiers Collection), by A. Elitzur (Editor), S. Dolev (Editor), N. Kolenda (Editor); New York: Springer, 2005 ISBN 3540221883
• 'Mind and its Place in the World: Phenomenology & Minds', Vol. 7 (Phenomenology & Mind) by Alexander Batthyany (Editor), Avshalom Elitzur (Editor), Ontos Verlag, 2006 ISBN 9783937202983
• 'Irreducibly Conscious: Selected Papers on Consciousness', Herausgegeben von Batthyany, Alexander / Elitzur, Avshalom (Editors),Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, 2009