Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize in Physics

It is a source of pride for the entire Paris-Saclay region, for the physics community in general, and for the quantum physics community in particular: Alain Aspect was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday, October 4th, along with American John Clauser and Austrian Anton Zeilinger, for his work on quantum entanglement. Following Pierre-Gilles de Gennes in 1991 and Albert Fert in 2007, he is the third physicist from Paris-Saclay to be honored by the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He himself says that this award belongs "to the entire French physics community."«[1].

Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger are credited with the theoretical discovery of quantum entanglement in 1935. The phenomenon was so intriguing at the time because it was the source of the paradoxical EPR effect, which appeared to contradict the theory of special relativity and for which no experimental verification was technically possible. It wasn't until 1982 and the work of Alain Aspect that the reality of the quantum entanglement phenomenon of the EPR effect was demonstrated, thanks to a now world-famous experiment he conducted in Orsay with entangled photons.

This experiment, which gave rise to what is known as the second quantum revolution, paved the way for numerous studies in cryptography, quantum teleportation, and quantum computers that manipulate qubits—the quantum equivalent of "bits"—to perform the operations required by algorithms. Alain Aspect follows this field very closely, as evidenced by his support and involvement with promising startups in the area, notably his membership on the scientific advisory board of Quandela, a startup that went through IncubAlliance and specializes in marketing innovative solutions for the development of quantum technologies.

The entire research and innovation ecosystem of the Paris-Saclay cluster is therefore delighted to see Alain Aspect distinguished by this Nobel Prize, which rewards years of pioneering research in the key field of physics that is quantum technologies.

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[1] See the article published in La Dépêche on 04/10/2022., Alain Aspect, 2022 Nobel Prize winner in Physics: "It's a prize that "This goes to the entire French physics community."»