Quantum Leap: Physicists Win Nobel for Showing Quantum in the Macroscopic World
STOCKHOLM, Oct 8 (Reuters) – In a stunning announcement that sent ripples through the scientific world, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis for experiments showing quantum behavior in superconducting circuits — bridging the microscopic and macroscopic worlds.
At the heart of the prize is their work, carried out in the 1980s and beyond, using superconducting electronic circuits to make phenomena such as tunneling and energy quantization visible on scales that could, in principle, be held in your hand. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said these experiments “revealed quantum physics in action” in a way that has reshaped how we develop quantum technologies today.
Clarke, a professor at UC Berkeley, said in the Nobel press conference (by phone) that he was “completely stunned” to get the honor. He added: “It had never occurred to me that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize.”
Devoret, connected to both Yale and UC Santa Barbara, and Martinis of UC Santa Barbara (and former head of Google’s Quantum AI Lab) join Clarke in sharing the prize, splitting 11 million Swedish crowns.
Why this matters
Quantum mechanics is usually confined to weird, tiny particles — electrons, photons, atoms. But their work showed that under the right conditions, quantum effects can manifest in circuits made of superconductors, which behave almost like classical objects. That’s a huge step for technologies like quantum computers, ultra-sensitive sensors, and secure quantum communication systems.
In the academy’s words: “This year’s Nobel Prize … has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors.”
The implications are already visible. The architectures at the core of emerging quantum processors borrow from the very circuits these laureates explored decades ago. In a sense, every time a quantum computer runs an algorithm or a quantum sensor picks up a faint signal, it’s built on foundations they helped lay.
Reactions & echoes
Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said it’s “wonderful to celebrate” how century-old quantum mechanics continues to surprise and remain practically useful. The Business Standard+1
In the U.S., colleagues and students described Clarke, Devoret and Martinis as quiet but persistent — the kind of scientists who slowly chip away at the most confounding puzzles. Their victory is being seen as vindication for research that, for years, looked more like elegant physics than applied engineering.
For many in the quantum community, this is more than just prestige. It’s a message: the era of quantum devices — once speculative — is now here. The lines between physics, engineering, and computing are blurring. And the tools they’ve helped design are increasingly central to national security, encryption, and next-gen computing.
One researcher in Europe notes: “What used to be lab curiosities are now the backbone of startups, national labs, and defense projects.”
The heft of discovery
This prize feels different, partly because it blends pure discovery with concrete utility. It doesn’t reward just theory or just gadgetry — it rewards showing that quantum weirdness can live in circuits you can touch (if cooled and isolated properly). That’s powerful, both scientifically and symbolically.
The world now leans ever more on quantum tech for breakthroughs in secure communication, drug discovery, materials design, and more. In that sense, this Nobel doesn’t just look back — it points ahead.
For Clarke, Devoret, and Martinis, the honor caps decades of dedication, but for the rest of us, it opens doors. The quantum age is not just coming — it’s already under construction.
Source: Reuters
