Café com Física

Nobel Prize in Physics 2022: From the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics to Quantum Information Science

by Prof. Helena Vieira Alberto (CFisUC, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Coimbra)

Portugal
Sala de Conferências (Departamento de Física FCTUC)

Sala de Conferências

Departamento de Física FCTUC

Universidade de Coimbra
Description

The Nobel laureates in Physics 2022 include John Clauser and Alain Aspect for the experimental verification of the violation of Bell inequalities, in 1972 and in 1982, respectively, therefore proving that Einstein's claim that “the quantum-mechanical description of reality given by the wave function is not complete” is false.

Whereas Bell experiments performed by Clauser and Aspect are at the heart of the foundations of Quantum Mechanics, the third Nobel laureate in Physics 2022, Anton Zeilinger, pioneered Quantum Information Science, a vibrant field at the forefront of today’s research. Zeilinger performed a series of fundamental experiments that led to a deeper understanding of the phenomena of entanglement as well as to important applications such as quantum teleportation and extra secure communications. A Bell experiment, originally designed to test Quantum Mechanics, is today a standard tool to identify entanglement in applications where entanglement plays a key role. The concept of entanglement and its application in quantum teleportation and ultra secure communication will be discussed in detail in this talk.

Organised by

Paulo Brás, Paulo Silva, Jaime Silva