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Europhysics news

Nobel prize in physics 2025: Bringing quantum tunneling all the way up to the human scale

José Luis Lado

Published Jan 1, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum mechanics and quantum superpositions govern the microscopic world. However, when systems get bigger and bigger, eventually quantum tunneling becomes more and more elusive, until it becomes unobservable at human scales. Or so it was thought.
DOI
10.1051/epn/2025512

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It is widely believed that the microscopic, that is, atomic-scale or smaller, world is governed by quantum mechanics while the macroscopic world, where our direct and daily experiences reside, is governed by classical mechanics. But why? Why do we not observe quantum phenomena such as quantum tunneling and quantum superposition in the macroscopic world? Where is the boundary between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds when it comes to the governing physical principles? Macroscopic quantum phenomena were first examined theoretically by A. Leggett in the 1970s. This boldly audacious idea was experimentally demonstrated in a series of groundbreaking works on Josephson junctions by John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis in 1985, that have been celebrated by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics. The trio’s work spurred the development of various qubit types based on superconducting circuits, ultimately leading to the current advancement of superconducting quantum computers.
FINDING: The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics centers on experimental proof of macroscopic quantum tunneling and single-photon quantum behavior, confirming that quantum mechanics governs all scales — not just microscopic. | MATH: Central formalism is the Schrödinger equation iℏ∂∂t∣ψ⟩=H^∣ψ⟩ i\hbar \frac{\partial}{\partial t}|\psi\rangle = \hat{H}|\psi\rangle iℏ∂t∂​∣ψ⟩=H^∣ψ⟩; tunneling probability via WKB approximation T≈e−2∫x1x22m(V(x)−E)ℏ2dx T \approx e^{-2\int_{x_1}^{x_2} \sqrt{\frac{2m(V(x)-E)}{\hbar^2}} dx} T≈e−2∫x1​x2​​ℏ22m(V(x)−E)​​dx; single-photon interference follows P(x)=∣ψ(x)∣2 P(x) = |\psi(x)|^2 P(x)=∣ψ(x)∣2 with ψ=12(ψ1+ψ2) \psi = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}(\psi_1 + \psi_2) ψ=2​1​(ψ1​+ψ2​). | CONNECTION: The WKB exponent contains an action integral — its stationary phase condition yields ∮p dq=nh \oint p\,dq = n h ∮pdq=nh (Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization), which for harmonic oscillators gives energy levels En=ℏω(n+12) E_n = \hbar\omega(n+\tfrac{1}{2}) En​=ℏω(n+21​). The ratio of successive tunneling amplitudes in a periodic potential (Kronig-Penney) produces band gaps whose widths relate to \( \cos(ka) = \cos(\alpha a) + P\frac{\sin( Author: Andrew Stewart Caldin, Independent Researcher, UK. Part of the E8 Intelligence Research series. Platform: e8intelligence.com
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes a conceptual shift that has been more than a century in the making: the transition from observing quantum phenomena in materials to deliberately engineering quantum behaviour in macroscopic electrical circuits. Awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret, and John Martinis, the prize honours the experimental demonstration and control of macroscopic quantum tunnelling and energy quantization in superconducting circuits. Their work resolved a long-standing question at the heart of quantum mechanics: can an object large enough to wire, probe, and manipulate behave as a single quantum system? The answer, now unequivocally, is yes.