The National Academy of Sciences recognized Michel Devoret and Robert Schoelkopf for their innovative work in quantum information processing.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has awarded the prestigious Comstock Prize in Physics to Yale researchers Michel Devoret and Robert Schoelkopf for their groundbreaking work in quantum information processing and related fields.
The Comstock Prize is awarded once every five years to one or more North American physicists whose recent work includes an innovative discovery or investigation in electricity, magnetism, or radiant energy. Many previous recipients of the prize, first awarded in 1913, have gone on to become Nobel laureates.
Devoret and Schoelkopf were recognized for their development and practical application of “Circuit QED” (circuit quantum electrodynamics), which allows quantum information to be distributed by microwave signals on wires. The strong coupling of quantum data (qubits) and photons in Circuit QED paved the way for a growing number of applications in quantum computing and sensing.
“Their close collaboration has transformed the way we think about quantum information, quantum optics, and the quantum world in general, leading us into a new era of research and application,” prize organizers said.
The Comstock Prize comes with a $50,000 prize and another $50,000 to support the recipients’ research.
Related, Devoret and Schoelkopf, along with Steven Girvin, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics, and several hundred collaborators and colleagues, recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first scientific studies relating to Circuit QED.
This story was adapted from the Yale News Article of January 22, 2024 by Jim Shelton. See below for the original story and other related links.