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THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS 2012 INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC Particle control in a quantum world Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland have independently invented and developed ground-breaking methods for measuring and manipulating individual particles while preserving their quantum-mechanical nature, in ways that were previously thought unattainable. Haroche and Wineland have opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum systems without destroying them. Through their ingenious laboratory methods they have managed to measure and control very fragile quan- tum states, enabling their field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super fast computer, based on quantum physics. These methods have also led to the construction of extremely precise clocks that could become Figure 1. Nobel Prize awarded for mastering particles. The Laureates have managed to make the future basis for a new standard of time, with more than trapped, individual particles to behave according hundred-fold greater precision than present-day caesium clocks. to the rules of quantum physics. For single particles of light or matter, the laws of classical physics cease to apply and quantum physics takes over. But single particles are not easily isolated from their surrounding environment and they lose their mysterious quantum properties as soon as they int