Nobel Prize

‘I Finally Feel Vindicated': Walnut Creek Man Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

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A Bay Area man was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics for work he said his colleagues once encouraged him to abandon.

Minutes after the announcement in Sweden, naming John Clauser a co-winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, his phone started ringing.

“I got a call this morning at 2:50 a.m.,” said Clauser. 

And it kept ringing all day. The Walnut Creek physicist was honored for experiments in an area that has broad implications for secure information transfer and quantum computing.

“It’s quite an honor. I really appreciate it and I finally feel vindicated,” said Clauser.

Vindicated because he said years ago several colleagues tried to discourage him from pursuing his experiments, even calling them “ridiculous.”

A California research physicist has been named as one of three winners of this year's Nobel prize in physics.

“When I was originally doing and preparing the experiment everyone said I was wasting my time,” he said.

In science circles, Clauser is well known. In 1972 as a graduate student, he used duct tape and spare parts in a UC Berkeley basement to prove one of Einstein’s theories was wrong.

“Quantum mechanics made correct predictions and Einstein's point of view was wrong,” said Clauser.

And his research is the foundation of today's quantum computers. 

Clauser also worked at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and has also contributed to medical advancements in the lab at his Walnut Creek home.

John Clauser, a retired physicist from Walnut Creek, is on the global stage after winning a Nobel Prize for quantum entanglement Tuesday. NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai spoke with him for some insight on the work that led him to be the winner.

He developed techniques for doing high-resolution X-ray imaging of soft tissue; he said those techniques are now being used for mammograms.

Clauser is not just a man of science. He also loves sailing and at age 79, he still competes in races in the San Francisco Bay.  

But he said winning the Nobel Prize is his greatest achievement. Still, he’s taking it in stride. 

“The only reason I got this prize was I stayed alive long enough,” he laughed.

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