Trio wins physics Nobel for quantum mechanical tunnelling

Briton John Clarke, Frenchman Michel Devoret and American John Martinis won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for putting quantum mechanics into action and enabling the development of all kinds of digital technology from cellphones to a new generation of computers.

The Nobel jury noted that their work had "provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers and quantum sensors".

Quantum mechanics describes how differently things work on incredibly small scales.

For example, when a normal ball hits a wall, it bounces back. But on the quantum scale, a particle will actually pass straight through a comparable wall -- a phenomenon called "tunneling."

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

In experiments carried out in the 1980s, the scientists showed that quantum tunnelling can also be observed on a macroscopic scale -- involving multiple particles -- by using superconductors.

"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 said.

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

Clarke, 83, is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

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

Martinis, born 1958, is also a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

"To put it mildly, it was the surprise of my life," Clarke told reporters via telephone during the prize announcement, about learning of his award.

Clarke explained that the scientists had been focused on the physics of their experiments and had not realised at the time the practical applications that could follow.

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

Asked about how their discoveries had affected everyday life, Clarke noted that he was speaking to the audience via his mobile phone.

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

In a subsequent interview with the Nobel Foundation, Clarke stressed that the discovery was a joint effort.

"I could not imagine accepting the prize without the two of them," he said.

Like many Nobel laureates, the trio's research was carried out in the United States.

Agence France-Presse