Barrier-defying phenomenon in quantum realm

Quantum activity on a macro scale A BALL CANNOT PASS THROUGH A WALL...

- Kabir Firaque

Even people without a background in science are familiar with Schrödinger's cat because of the sheer audacity of the idea: the cat in a box is both alive and dead at the same time until you actually observe it, at which time it is definitely dead.

Although he was one of the pioneers of quantum physics, Erwin Schrödinger's thought experiment showed that the ideas of quantum mechanics cannot easily be understood in terms of real-world objects.

Harnessing the strange properties of the quantum world for realworld use is the key to the future. Quantum computers work at speeds several orders of magnitude higher than that of classical computers, but building them for mass use remains a challenge. The key area being explored-super conducting electrical circuits - was, however, shown as far back as 1984-85, by physicists John Clarke (currently with University of California, Berkeley), Michel H Devoret (Yale University) and John M Martinis (UC Santa Barbara). Their work won them the Nobel Prize for Physics on Tuesday.