3 UC scientists are awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

Their work on subatomic quantum tunneling boosts computing power.

- By Kostya MANENKOV, SETH BORENSTEIN AND MIKE CORDER

John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for research on the weird world of subatomic quantum tunneling that advances the power of everyday digital communications and computing.

One of the winners said that quantum mechanics research already has wound up in our everyday communications.

Speaking from his cellphone, Clarke said: “One of the underlying reasons that cellphones work is because ofall this work.”

Clarke, 83, conducted his research at the University of California, Berkeley; Martinis at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and Devoret is at Yale and also at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Clarke, who spearheaded the research team, told the Associated Press he was “pleased to receive this prize” alongside his two colleagues.