Three scientists jointly won this year’s Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their work on quantum information science that has significant applications, for example in the field of encryption.
Frenchman Alain Aspect, American John F. Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger were cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for discovering the way that particles known as photons can be linked, or “entangled,” with each other even when they are separated by large distances.
Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Hans Ellegren, centre, Eva Olsson, left and Thors Hans Hansson, members of the Nobel Committee for Physics announce the winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, from left to right on the screen, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger, during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. (Jonas Ekstromer /TT News Agency via AP)
“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,” she said. “Its predictions have opened doors to another world, and it has also shaken the very foundations of how we interpret measurements.”
FILE – Swiss Federal Council Alain Berset, left, hands over the certificate of the Balzan Prize to French physicist Alain Aspect, right, during the official Balzan prize ceremony at the parliament building in Bern, Switzerland, Nov. 15, 2013. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP, File)
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,” said Zeilinger, 77, who is based at the University of Vienna.
FILE – French physicist Professor Alain Aspect, left, is presented with the Niels Bohr Medal by Queen Margrethe of Denmark, at the Carlsberg Honorary Residence in Copenhagen, Monday Oct. 7, 2013. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (Finn Frandsen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
Clauser, Aspect, and Zeilinger have figured in Nobel speculation for more than a decade. In 2010 they won the Wolf Prize in Israel, seen as a possible precursor to the Nobel.
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.
FILE – French physicist Professor Alain Aspect, left, holds the Niels Bohr Medal as he stands next to Queen Margrethe of Denmark, at the Carlsberg Honorary Residence in Copenhagen, Monday Oct. 7, 2013. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (Finn Frandsen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
The Nobel committee said Clauser, 79, developed quantum theories first put forward in the 1960s into to a practical experiment. Aspect, 75, was able to close a loophole in those theories, while Zeilinger demonstrated a phenomenon called quantum teleportation that effectively allows information to be transmitted over distances.
Thors Hans Hansson, right, member of the Nobel Committee for Physics presents the 2022 Nobel laureates in physics as Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Hans Ellegren, centre and member of the Nobel Committee for Physic Eva Olsson, left, listen, during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. The winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics are Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger. (Jonas Ekstromer /TT News Agency via AP)
“Using entanglement you can transfer all the information which is carried by an object over to some other place where the object is, so to speak, reconstituted,” said Zeilinger. He added that this only works for tiny particles.
FILE – Professor Anton Zeilinger from the University of Vienna, left, and Vienna’s Mayor Michael Haeupl smile during a press conference where the functioning of quantum cryptography based on entangled light particles will be presented, in Vienna’s City Hall, Wednesday, April 21, 2004. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (AP Photo/Hans Punz, File)
“It is not like in the Star Trek films (where one is) transporting something, certainly not the person, over some distance,” he said.
When he began his research, Zeilinger said the experiments were “completely philosophical without any possible use or application.”
Austrian scientist Anton Zeilinger speaks during a press conference in Vienna on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (AP Photo/Lilli Strauss)
Since then, the laureates’ work has been used to develop the fields of quantum computers, quantum networks and secure quantum encrypted communication.
French physicist Alain Aspect is seen in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Oct. 3, 2013. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
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 Oct. 10.
FILE – Austria’s quantum physicist and university professor Anton Zeilinger gives a speech at the opening of the Bruckner Festival 2005 in the Brucknerhaus Linz, Austria, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (AP Photo/Rudi Brandstaetter, File)
The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on Dec. 10. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.
French physicist Alain Aspect is seen in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Oct. 3, 2013. On Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists, Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger for their work on quantum information science. (Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
