The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences have announced Serge Haroche and David Wineland have received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking work in quantum physics.

 

The pair have been lauded for opening the door for a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating directo observation of individual quantum particles without destroying them. Quantum particles have hitherto proven to be incredibly difficult to separate from their surrounding environment, and lose their quantum properties as soon as they interact with the outside world.

 

Through their innovative laboratory methods, Haroche and Wineland have managed to measure and control exceedingly fragile quantum states, which were previously though inaccessible for direct observation. Their new methods allow them to examine, control and count particles.

 

Their methods have many things in common. David Wineland traps electrically charged atoms, or ions, controlling and measuring them with light, or photons.

 

Serge Haroche takes the opposite approach: he controls and measures trapped photons, or particles of light, by sending atoms through a trap.

 

Both Laureates work in the field of quantum optics studying the fundamental interaction between light and matter, a field which has seen considerable progress since the mid-1980s. Their ground-breaking methods have enabled this field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super fast computer based on quantum physics.