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Devoret Wins Nobel for Groundbreaking Quantum Circuit Research

2/16/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Michel H. Devoret, physicist, won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for experiments from 40 years earlier.
At UC Berkeley in the mid-1980s, he showed quantum mechanics could apply to visible electrical circuits.
The work could advance technologies such as quantum computers for drug discovery and materials design.
Devoret and his team at Google reported their quantum computer ran a new algorithm 13,000 times faster than a leading supercomputer.

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Story summary

Michel H. Devoret, physicist, won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for experiments from 40 years earlier.
At UC Berkeley in the mid-1980s, he showed quantum mechanics could apply to visible electrical circuits.
The work could advance technologies such as quantum computers for drug discovery and materials design.
Devoret and his team at Google reported their quantum computer ran a new algorithm 13,000 times faster than a leading supercomputer.