Nobel Prize 2022 in physics awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger – Page

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three scientists for their research into quantum mechanics. 

Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger received the honour for advances in the behaviour of subatomic particles, opening the door to work on super computers and encrypted communication.

Quantum mechanics is the science that describes nature at the smallest scales.  

The awards were given for ‘experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science’, the award-giving body said on Tuesday. 

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the laureates enabled further fundamental research and also potentially cleared the way for new practical technology.

‘There is now a large field of research that includes quantum computers, quantum networks and secure quantum encrypted communication,’ it said in a statement.

Frenchman Aspect, 75, is affiliated to the Université Paris-Saclay and École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, while American Clauser, 79, runs his own company in California. Zeilinger, 77, is attached to the University of Vienna.

The same trio won the Wolf Prize together in 2010.

Speaking by phone to a news conference after the announcement, Zeilinger said he was ‘still kind of shocked’ at hearing he had received the award.

‘But it’s a very positive shock,’ he added.

Zeilinger was part of a team that successfully teleported ‘quantum states’ from one photon to another, in a pioneering breakthrough that may lead to a more secure way of transmitting data. 

The experiment did not involve teleporting actual matter, which remains only possible in science fiction.

However, the successful teleportation is expected to further the development of a future, more secure quantum internet, since scientists will now be able to transport larger amounts of complex information, with less vulnerability to hackers on so-called ‘quantum computers.’ 

Hans Ellegren, Secretary General, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced today’s winners at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

The more than century-old prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns (£800,000), is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 

‘Quantum information science is a vibrant and rapidly developing field,’ said Eva Olsson, a member of the Nobel committee. 

‘It has broad and potential implications in areas such as secure information transfer, quantum computing and sensing technology.

‘Its origin can be traced to that of quantum mechanics.

‘Its predictions have opened doors to another world, and it has also shaken the very foundations of how we interpret measurements.’

Physics is the second Nobel to be awarded this week after Swedish geneticist Svante Paabo won the prize for Physiology or Medicine on Monday.

The prestigious prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created in the will of Alfred Nobel, who made a fortune from his invention of dynamite, and have been awarded since 1901 with a some interruptions, primarily the two world wars.

The physics prize has often taken centre stage among the awards, featuring household names of science such as Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, and rewarding breakthroughs that have reshaped how we see the world. 

While physicists often tackle problems that appear at first glance to be far removed from everyday concerns – tiny particles and the vast mysteries of space and time – their research provides the foundations for many practical applications of science. 

Many applications rest upon how quantum mechanics allow two or more particles to exist in a shared state, regardless of how far apart they are. 

This is called entanglement, and has been one of the most debated elements of quantum mechanics ever since the theory was formulated. 

Albert Einstein talked about spooky action at a distance and Erwin Schrödinger said it was quantum mechanics’ most important trait.

This year’s laureates have explored these entangled quantum states, and their experiments laid the foundation of the revolution currently underway in quantum technology.

A week of Nobel Prize announcements kicked off Monday with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo receiving the award in medicine Monday for unlocking secrets of Neanderthal DNA that provided key insights into our immune system.

They continue with chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday.

The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award on October 10.