Ingenious Laboratory Methods

Serge Haroche of France and American David Wineland have been awarded with the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics for coming up with ways to observe the bizarre properties of the quantum world, which has led to the construction of extremely precise clocks and helped scientists take the first steps toward building superfast computers.

The Nobel citation said the award was for “ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”.  An isolated quantum particle would take on strange properties, such as being in two places at once.  But these properties are instantly changed when it interacts with something else, such as when somebody observes it.  Through “ingenious laboratory methods,” the two scientists have managed to measure and control fragile quantum states that were previously thought to be impossible to observe directly, the judges said.

“Their ground-breaking methods have enabled this field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of superfast computer based on quantum physics,” the academy said. “The research has also led to the construction of extremely precise clocks that could become the future basis for a new standard of time.”