Three Share Nobel for Optics Discoveries

NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS

Three physicists have won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their revolutionary work applying quantum theory to optics.

Roy J. Glauber, 80, of Harvard University will take home half of the $1.3 million prize for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize.

Glauber found a way to describe some puzzling optical effects by applying quantum field theory to the behavior of light. His theory details the dual nature of light—it can be thought of as consisting either of waves or particles known as photons—and explains why light from most regular sources differs from laser light. In lasers, light is coherent—its rays all have the same phase, wavelength, and direction. The work pioneered the field of quantum optics and paved the way for developments in quantum encryption.

The other half of the prize money will be split between John L. Hall, 71, of JILA, a physics institute in Boulder, Colo., run by the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards & Technology, and Theodor W. Hänsch, 63, of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany, and Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich.

According to the Swedish Academy, the pair is being honored “for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique.”

Hall and Hänsch’s techniques have allowed scientists to make very accurate measurements of the frequency of light—up to 15 decimal points of precision. Their comb technique, in particular, has allowed physicists to examine the stability of nature’s constants over time and to develop extremely accurate clocks and global positioning system technology.