Nobel Prize in Physics 2025
The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2025 has recognized groundbreaking work in quantum mechanics, focusing on the behavior of small particles and their macroscopic applications.
Quantum Mechanics and Superposition
- Small particles like atoms exhibit unusual behaviors such as superposition (existing in multiple places simultaneously) and tunnelling (passing through barriers).
- These phenomena are described by the laws of quantum mechanics and are typically not observable in large objects.
2025 Nobel Laureates: John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis
- Awarded for discovering macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantization in electric circuits.
- Their work in the mid-1980s laid the foundation for the development of quantum computers.
Research Background and Experimentation
- Conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, using a set-up similar to that of Brian Josephson, a previous Nobel laureate.
- Involved electric circuits with superconductors and insulators, known as Josephson junctions, exhibiting quantum tunnelling.
- Superconductors allow electricity to flow without resistance, a behavior linked to quantum mechanics.
Significance of the Research
- Their experiments demonstrated quantum behavior on a macroscopic scale, a first at the time.
- Validated the possibility of large systems exhibiting quantum properties under controlled conditions.
- The work influenced the development of quantum bits or qubits, crucial for quantum computing.
- Today, superconducting circuits are a popular platform for creating qubits.