Trio win Nobel Prize for revealing quantum physics in action

In the 1980s, Nobel winners showed quantum effects in superconducting circuits influencing daily objects

US-based scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for “experiments that revealed quantum physics in action,” paving the way for the development of the next generation of digital technologies.

“My feelings are that I’m completely stunned. Of course, it had never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize,” Clarke told a Nobel press conference by telephone on Tuesday.

“I’m speaking on my cell phone and I suspect that you are too, and one of the underlying reasons that the cell phone works is because of all this work.”

‘New surprises’ in century-old field of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanical behaviours are well studied at the level of atoms and sub-atomic particles, but are often seen as bizarre and unintuitive compared with classical physics at larger scales.

The Nobel winners carried out experiments in the mid-1980s with an electronic circuit built of superconductors and demonstrated that quantum mechanics could also influence everyday objects under certain conditions.

“It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises. It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology,” said Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

Quantum technology is already ubiquitous, with transistors in computer microchips being an everyday example.

“This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize, said in a statement.

Quantum computing potential and hurdles

Quantum computers use principles of quantum mechanics to make complex calculations, predict outcomes, and perform analysis that in some cases could take traditional computers millions of years.

Photos of (LtoR) British physicist John Clarke at the University of California, USA, French physicist Michel H Devoret (University of California and Yale) and US physicist John M Martinis (University of California) are seen on a screen during a press conference on the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 7, 2025. PHOTO:AFP

The field is seen as having the potential to help solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges, such as tackling climate change. But it also faces significant hurdles, including improving chip accuracy, and timelines for commercially viable quantum computing remain disputed.

Two of the winning trio have links to Google

British-born Clarke is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Devoret, who was born in France and congratulated on X by French President Emmanuel Macron, is a professor at Yale University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where Martinis also works.

Martinis, an American, headed Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab until 2020. At Google, he was part of the team that in 2019 said they had achieved “quantum supremacy,” where a quantum computer solved a problem faster than the world’s most powerful supercomputer.

Devoret, besides his professorship, is also the chief scientist at Google Quantum AI. It is the second straight year that a Nobel has been won by scientists with Google ties.

The 2024 chemistry prize was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper at Google DeepMind, while Geoffrey Hinton, who worked for Google for more than a decade, shared the physics prize the same year.

Physics second Nobel prize awarded this week

The Nobel physics prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and includes a prize sum totalling 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million), shared among the winners.

The Nobel Prizes were established through the will of Alfred Nobel, who amassed a fortune from his invention of dynamite. Since 1901, with occasional interruptions, the prizes have annually recognised achievements in science, literature, and peace. Economics was a later addition.

Physics was the first category mentioned in Nobel’s will, likely reflecting its prominence during his time. Today, the Nobel Prize in Physics remains among the most prestigious awards in the discipline.

Past winners include Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, all pioneers of quantum theory.

In keeping with tradition, physics is the second Nobel awarded this week, following Monday’s medicine prize to two American and one Japanese scientist for breakthroughs in understanding the immune system. The chemistry prize is due on Wednesday.

The prizes for science, literature and economics are presented to laureates by the Swedish king at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, followed by a lavish banquet at city hall. The Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and presented separately in Oslo.