Nobel physics prize goes to quantum scientists

STORY: The awards were given for their advances in quantum mechanics on the behavior of subatomic particles, opening the door to work on super computers and encrypted communication.

Hans Ellegren, the secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said their "experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science".

The award-giving body said the laureates -- Aspect is French, Clauser American and Zeilinger Austrian -- enabled further fundamental research and also potentially cleared the way for new practical technology.

The scientists all conducted experiments into quantum entanglement, where two particles are linked regardless of the space between them, a field that unsettled Albert Einstein himself, who once referred to it in a letter as "spooky action at a distance".

"I was suddenly struck by some of the theoretical predictions because they did not fit in all the usual intuition which one might have." Zeilinger told a news conference over the phone.

The Academy said that because of their work, development was underway to use the "special properties of individual particle systems to construct quantum computers, improve measurements, build quantum networks and establish secure quantum encrypted communication."