Alan Aspect, John F. Crowther, Anton Seilinger
Niklas Elmehed/Nobel Prize Outreach
2022 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly won Alan Aspect, John F. Crowther and Anton Seilinger For experiments with entangled photons and for their work in pioneering quantum information science.
“I’m still a little shocked, but a very positive shock,” Zeilinger said at a press conference.
All three winners were awarded for fundamental contributions to the study of quantum mechanics, including experiments with entangled or connected particles of light called photons. These showed that information could be transmitted instantaneously over infinite distances, known as quantum teleportation.
Each of the winners’ experiments performed a real test of a mathematical theorem, called Bell’s theorem, first proposed by physicist John Bell in 1964. This is whether quantum mechanics resembles the billiard ball model of Newtonian mechanics, whether one must follow another on a local scale, or whether particles separated by any amount of space influence each other. It tries to measure whether it can give
Bell’s proposal involved measuring the properties of two entangled particles in a system isolated from anything else that could affect the results. I can’t explain.
In 1972, John F. Crowther and his colleague Stuart J. Friedman first tested Bell’s inequality by measuring entangled photons resulting from collisions of calcium atoms.
Crowther and Friedman’s data appeared to violate Bell’s inequality. This is the first example of a real violation of a high level of statistical accuracy, suggesting that quantum mechanics may indeed have non-local effects. , and there were many differences from Bell’s original ideas.
In 1980, Alain Aspect and his colleagues at the University of Paris-Saclay, France, succeeded in measuring Bell’s inequality with greater accuracy and less suspicion by measuring the polarization (or direction) of a pair of photons. bottom. .
The team used a random switching device to determine which photons to measure before reaching the detector. This precludes the possibility of observer influence, as some critics thought could occur in Crowther’s experiment, and many physicists believe that the measurement of aspect is the result of quantum mechanics being local. I felt that I had established the idea that it would work effectively.
In 1989, Anton Zeilinger and his colleagues at the University of Vienna, Austria, extended Bell’s inequality beyond two entangled particles to states of three or more entangled particles, called GHZ states. It forms a key pillar of many quantum technologies, including quantum computing, where GHZ states can be used to create quantum bits (qubits).
“We wanted to go back and pay tribute to the people who laid the foundation for the future. [quantum information science]said Thors Hans Hansson, a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics, at a press conference.
Sign up for Lost in Space-Time. This is a free monthly newsletter about the weirdness of reality.
topic:
- quantum physics/
- Nobel Prize
