Alain Aspect, John F Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics this year for their work on quantum information science.
The winner was announced Tuesday at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm by Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities, and pioneering quantum information science,” the academy said.
The week of Nobel Prize announcements began on Monday, with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo receiving the award in medicine for unlocking secrets of Neanderthal DNA that provided critical insights into our immune system.
According to Eva Olsson, a member of the Nobel committee, “Quantum information science is a vibrant and rapidly developing field.” “It has broad potential implications in areas such as secure information transfer, quantum computing, and sensing technology.”
“Its origin can be traced to quantum mechanics,” she said. “Its predictions have opened doors to another world, and it has also shaken the very foundations of how we interpret measurements.”
The research
The development of experimental tools by the 2022 physics laureates has laid the groundwork for a new era of quantum technology. The ability to manipulate and manage quantum states and all of their layers of properties provides us with unexpected tools.
Intense research and development is being conducted to exploit the unique properties of individual particle systems in order to build quantum computers, improve measurements, build quantum networks, and establish secure quantum encrypted communication.
John Clauser, this year’s Nobel laureate, created an apparatus that emitted two entangled photons at a time, each towards a filter that tested their polarisation. The result was a clear violation of a Bell inequality that agreed with quantum mechanics predictions.
Nobel Prize winners of 2021
Last year the prize was awarded to three scientists—Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi. Their contributions helped explain and forecast complex natural phenomena, which improved our understanding of climate change.
Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine
On Monday, a series of Nobel Prize announcements saw Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the prize in medicine for discovering Neanderthal DNA’s hidden information that was crucial to understanding our immune system.
They continue with chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The economics prize will be awarded on October 10, while the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday.