2022 Nobel Prize Colloquium – Wooster Physics

Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger are sharing the 2022 Nobel Prize in physics, for conducting groundbreaking experiments using entangled quantum states, where two particles behave like a single entity. In an entangled pair, what happens to one of the particles determines what happens to the other particle, even if they are far apart. These results have cleared the way for new technology based upon the information contained in quantum states.

A man is talking and gesturing with his hands, while other people look on. — Dr. Leary gets enthusiastic about explanations.

Several students and a faculty member sit at a table and are having a conversation. — Dr. DeGroot makes a compelling argument to some physics majors.

Several students and a faculty member sit at tables. They are turning toward the chalkboard where diagrams have been drawn, and discussing the ideas on the board. — Dr. Leary and students discuss entanglement swapping during the Nobel Prize lunch discussion.

Since this time the prize correlated well with my background, today we held a colloquium where I presented some history, physics, philosophy, and applications related to entanglement, including a discussion Nobel recipients’ work. One major theme was the debate over local realism that was settled by the aforementioned experiments. Afterwards, we had an animated round table conversation over pizza, and we took pictures to prove that this round table was both local and real!