The emeritus professor of the University of Vienna had been considered a likely candidate for the coveted award for quite some time, but when he actually received a phone call from Sweden he was still "very surprised", admits the 77-year-old Anton Zeilinger, "But there are so many others." What makes the 'quantum guru' with the bushy beard so special?
From fundamental questions to concrete applications
The Swedish committee declared that his pioneering work in quantum information and his experiments with entangled photons "bridged the gap between fundamental questions about nature and concrete applications". "Quantum physics will only actually be in full use if we no longer have to carry something like this around," Zeilinger counters and holds up his mobile phone. However, his personal focus has always been on basic research: "I can very proudly tell you: This is not good for anything. I only do it out of curiosity." This is what he has always replied to the question of "What is this good for?", Zeilinger tells the audience in the packed Ludwig-Boltzmann lecture hall at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Vienna at the press conference after the announcement of the Nobel Prize laureates.
Read the full article in Rudelfina, the research magazine of the University of Vienna
https://bit.ly/3HGVCSU
Watch the 2022 Nobel Prize lectures in physics
