Quantum Tunneling Experiments Earn Team The Nobel Prize in Physics

(Yuichiro Chino/Moment/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, American John Martinis, Frenchman Michel Devoret, and Britishman John Clarke were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their application of quantum mechanics, which paved the way for the creation of a new generation of computers and other digital devices, including cellphones.

 "Provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors," the Nobel jury said of their work.

 On extremely small sizes, objects behave differently, as described by quantum mechanics.

A typical ball, for instance, bounces back when it strikes a wall.  However, a phenomena known as "tunnelling" occurs on the quantum scale when a particle passes through a similar wall.

 "What these scientists were able to do was to basically do that, but on an electric circuit," Ulf Danielsson, a professor of theoretical physics at Uppsala University and the secretary of the Nobel physics committee, told AFP.

 Through studies conducted in the 1980s, the researchers demonstrated that quantum tunneling may also be seen utilizing superconductors on a macroscopic scale, involving many particles.

(Johan Jardenstad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences)

"This prize is awarding an experiment that brings the scale up to the macroscopic scale, scales that we can understand and measure through human standards," Danielsson stated.

'Surprise of my life'

In a statement, Nobel Committee for Physics head Olle Eriksson said, "It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology."

Professor Clarke, who is eighty-three, teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.

Devoret, 72, is listed as a professor emeritus at Yale University and a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Martinis, who was born in 1958, teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara as well.

"To put it mildly, it was the surprise of my life," Clarke said over the phone to reporters while he was announcing his win.

According to Clarke, the scientists were preoccupied with the physics of their tests and were unaware of the potential real-world uses at the time.

"It certainly had not occurred to us in any way that this discovery would have such a significant impact," Clarke stated.

 When asked how their findings had impacted day-to-day living, Clarke mentioned that he was addressing the audience through his cell phone.

 "One of the underlying reasons that the cell phone works is because of all this work," Clarke stated.

 Later on Tuesday, he stressed to reporters how "vital and important" his colleagues' insights had been.

 "We would never have gotten this prize if they hadn't done all their hard work."

'Brain drain'

The trio's study was conducted in the United States, as is the case with many Nobel laureates.

 Clarke stressed to reporters on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's substantial budget cuts to science programs "will cripple" crucial research in that field.

 "If this keeps up, it's going to be disastrous," he told AFP.

 Due in great part to the US's longstanding investment in academic freedom and basic science, major US universities usually hold the majority of Nobel science prizes.

 Eleanor Crane, a quantum physicist at King's College London, told AFP, "The fact that Michel Devoret went to the US is an example of the brain drain."

However, Crane also pointed out that this trend "is being reverted right now with a new administration" simultaneously.

 There are concerns that the US may lose its scientific leadership as a result of Trump's attempts to cut funding to research universities.

 After a US-Japanese duo won the medicine prize on Monday for their studies of the human immune system, the physics prize is the second Nobel of the season.

 Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan and Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell of the United States received recognition for their work identifying immunological "security guards."

Additionally, Brunkow stressed to reporters Tuesday the need of federal financing "for promoting and supporting science."

 The chemistry prize on Wednesday, the literature prize on Thursday, and the much anticipated Nobel Peace Prize on Friday will come after the physics prize.

 The 2025 Nobel season concludes on October 13 with the economics prize.

 If there are multiple winners in a discipline, the $1.2-million check, diploma, and gold medal are awarded as part of the Nobel Prize.

 On December 10, the anniversary of the death of physicist Alfred Nobel in 1896, who established the prizes in his will, the 2025 laureates will be presented with their awards at ceremonial ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo.