American Scientist John Clauser Is One of Three to Jointly Win the Nobel Prize in Physics
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California native John Clauser was named as one of the winners of this year's Nobel Prize for physics.
Clauser, 79, was awarded the prize alongside French scientist Alain Aspect and Austrian scientist Anton Zeilinger. In the announcement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised the trio for their work in "pioneering quantum information science," NBC News reported.
In a post on social media, that featured a sweet drawing of the scientists, the Academy wrote they were honored "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science."
BREAKING NEWS:
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2022 #NobelPrize in Physics to Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger. pic.twitter.com/RI4CJv6JhZ— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 4, 2022
Clauser, a native from Pasadena, California, received his Bachelor of Science in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1964. He then went on to complete an M.A. in physics in 1966 and Ph.D. in physics in 1969 from Columbia University.
"Quantum information science is a vibrant and rapidly developing field," said Nobel Committee Eva Olsson, per NBC News. "It has broad and potential implications in areas such as secure information transfer, quantum computing and sensing technology."
Olsson continued, "Its origin can be traced to that of quantum mechanics. Its predictions have opened doors to another world, and it has also shaken the very foundations of how we interpret measurements."
Terry Chea/AP/Shutterstock
The trio won for their contributions to the phenomenon of entanglement, CNN reported. Quantum entanglement is when two particles link, regardless of distance, and remain linked. By doing so, they take on a unified quantum state.
The phenomenon was once dubbed by Albert Einstein as a "spooky action at a distance," The Guardian reported.
"I'm still kind of shocked but it's a very positive shock," winner Zeilinger, a professor at University of Vienna, Austria, told journalists upon the announcement, per CNN. "I was actually very surprised."
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The physics prize was not the first awarded by the committee this week. On Monday, the Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine to Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for his work in deciphering Neanderthal DNA, CNN reported.
Prizes will continue to be awarded throughout the week. On Wednesday, the chemistry prizes will be given followed by literature on Thursday. The highly-anticipated Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the economics award will be awarded on Monday.
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In addition to the global recognition, Clauser, Zeilinger and Aspet will be splitting the prize money of 10 million Swedish krona (approximately $920,000).