Scientists Alain Aspect, John F Clauser and Anton Zeilinger on Tuesday won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics for their experiments with entangled photons.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which gives the award for physics, said that the prize recognises their work in “establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science”.
While Aspect is a French citizen, Clauser is American and Zeilinger is Austrian.
The Nobel Prize committee said that all three award winners “conducted groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single unit even when they are separated”.
It said that the results cleared the way for new technology based upon quantum information.
“The 2022 physics laureates’ development of experimental tools has laid the foundation for a new era of quantum technology,” the award-giving body said. “Being able to manipulate and manage quantum states and all their layers of properties gives us access to tools with unexpected potential.”
The prize amount of 10 million Swedish kronor (Rs 7.48 crore) will be shared equally among the three award winners. The prizes will be handed out on December 10.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to scientists Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi for their “groundbreaking contributions” to the understanding of complex physical systems.
This is the second Nobel Prize to have been announced this year. On Monday, Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries about the evolution of the human race.
The other awards are given in the fields of chemistry, literature, peace and economics.
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