2012 Nobel Prize in Physics
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Serge Haroche (College de France and Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France) and David J. Wineland (National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST] and University of Colorado, Boulder, USA) for the development of “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”.
The prize, given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was announced on 9 October.
Haroche and Wineland have carried out pioneering experiments in the field of quantum optics, independently developing approaches to examine, control and count quantum particles, the Academy said.
Wineland works with trapped ions and measures them with light, whereas Haroche controls and measures photons. Besides reporting multiple breakthroughs in fundamental science, their experiments have led to the construction of extreme precision atomic clocks and paved the way for researchers making ther first steps towards constructing quantum computers.
Serge Haroche was reached by phone from the press conference. He learned that he had won just 20 minutes before telling reporters: “I was lucky–I was in the street and passing near a bench, so I was able to sit down immediately. I was walking with my wife going back home and when I saw the… Swedish code, I realised it was real and it’s, you know, really overwhelming.”
Prof Sir Peter Knight of the UK’s Institute of Physics, said: “Haroche and Wineland have made tremendous advances in our understanding of quantum entanglement, with beautiful experiments to show how atomic systems can be manipulated to exhibit the most extraordinary coherence properties.”
This 2012 award joins other Nobel Prizes in Physics awarded in the field of quantum optics in recent years: for laser cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light in 1997, for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in diluted gases of alkali atoms in 2001, and for quantum theory of optical coherence and laser-based precision spectroscopy in 2005.
Serge Haroche won the EPS senior Quantum Electronics Prize in 2002 and was Plenary Speaker at the flagship EPS conference CLEO Europe-EQEC in 2009. David Wineland was also a plenary speaker at the same conference upon receiving the 2009 Walther Award from the German Physical Society DPG and the Optical Society of America OSA.
For more information, please visit the Nobel Prize website.
Visit the web-page of Serge Haroche at College de France.
Visit the web-page of the ion storage group at NIST.
