Trio Wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for Bridging the Quantum and Classical Worlds

STOCKHOLM, October 7, 2025 – The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three pioneers whose groundbreaking experiments forced the scientific world to reconsider the very boundaries of reality. John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis were honored for their seminal work demonstrating that the bizarre laws of quantum mechanics do not merely govern the invisible realm of atoms but can be observed and measured in circuits large enough to hold in your hand.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday that the trio, affiliated with the University of California and Yale University, will share the prestigious award “for pioneering experiments that demonstrated quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in macroscopic electrical circuits.”

A Triumph Over Theoretical Dogma

For most of the 20th century, quantum mechanics was a theory of the microscopic. Phenomena like particles acting as waves, objects existing in multiple states at once (superposition), or instantly influencing each other over distance (entanglement) were confined to the world of photons, electrons, and atoms. The “classical” world of everyday objects—from grains of sand to baseballs—was thought to be governed by Isaac Newton’s predictable laws.

The work of Clarke, Devoret, and Martinis in the mid-1980s shattered this dichotomy. They designed and conducted a series of elegant experiments using superconducting circuits—loops of metal that, when cooled to near absolute zero, can carry electrical current without any resistance.

“In the strange world of quantum physics, our laureates built a bridge,” said Professor Anders Irstam, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. “They showed that there is no sharp line between the quantum and the classical. The transition is gradual, and with the right tools, we can witness quantum behavior on a scale we can see and engineer.”

The Groundbreaking Experiments

The core of their achievement rests on two key demonstrations:

1. Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling: John Clarke’s work provided the first unambiguous observation of quantum tunneling in a large-scale system. In the quantum world, a particle can sometimes pass through an energy barrier that would be impenetrable according to classical physics—like a ball spontaneously appearing on the other side of a mountain. Clarke’s experiments showed that the electrical current in a superconducting circuit could collectively tunnel through a barrier in precisely this way.

2. Quantized Energy States in a Circuit: Building on this, the collaborative work of Devoret and Martinis demonstrated that the energy levels in these superconducting circuits are quantized. Much like an electron in an atom can only exist at specific energy rungs on a ladder, they proved that the electromagnetic energy in a circuit the size of a computer chip also exists in discrete, quantized steps. This was a direct observation of a quantum property in a man-made, macroscopic object.

The Foundation of a Quantum Revolution

At the time, these discoveries were a profound validation of quantum theory. But their true impact has unfolded over the subsequent decades, proving to be the foundational bedrock for the entire field of quantum information science.

“Their work was initially about understanding the fundamental laws of nature,” explained Dr. Eva Holmér, a member of the Nobel Committee. “But by showing that we can control quantum states in an electronic chip, they inadvertently provided the blueprint for the quantum computer.”

The “artificial atom” they created—the superconducting quantum circuit, or qubit—is today the leading platform being pursued by companies like Google, IBM, and Intel to build powerful quantum computers. The principles of superposition and entanglement that they helped to study in macroscopic systems are now the tools used to perform computations that are impossible for any conventional supercomputer.

The Laureates

• John Clarke, born 1942 in the UK, is a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is widely regarded as the father of this experimental field, with his 1980s work on SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) paving the way.

• Michel Devoret, born 1953 in Paris, France, is a Professor of Applied Physics at Yale University. He provided the crucial theoretical framework and design principles that turned these circuits into viable quantum systems.

• John Martinis, born 1958 in the U.S., is a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was the master experimentalist who built the exquisitely sensitive circuits that delivered the definitive proof of quantized energy levels.

Reached by phone, a jubilant Martinis stated, “We were just driven by curiosity about how the world works. To see that basic research blossom into a technology that could change the world is the greatest reward a scientist can ask for. This is a wonderful recognition for the entire field.”

The Nobel Prizes continue this week with the award for Chemistry on Wednesday, followed by Literature on Thursday, the Peace Prize on Friday, and the prize in Economic Sciences on Monday, October 13.

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