American physicist, the only person to receive two Nobel Prizes in physics. The first for the invention of the transistor (the foundation of modern electronics), the second for the BCS theory of superconductivity. His works underlie many quantum devices.
Biography
Born in Madison, Wisconsin. Studied at the University of Wisconsin, PhD at Princeton. Worked at Bell Labs, then professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Member of the National Academy of Sciences. Nobel laureate (1956, 1972).
Key discoveries
BCS theory of superconductivity (1957) (jointly with Cooper and Schrieffer)
explaining the quantum mechanism of superconductivity
transistor effect (1947) with Brattain and Shockley
surface states in semiconductors.
💡 Bardeen was very modest and avoided the limelight; upon hearing of his second Nobel Prize, he first went to play golf.
Quote: "The main thing is to understand how little we actually know. That opens the door to discoveries."
Superconductors typically lose their properties in a strong magnetic field due to the Pauli limit. However, for layered PdTe₂, this limit depends on thickness. Reducing the sample from 50 to 19 nm boosted the critical field tenfold. The reason: quantum confinement forces electrons to react different
Hot water freezes faster than cold—that's the Mpemba effect. In the quantum world, its counterpart is a system with a highly broken symmetry restoring order faster. Scientists controlled this on a superconducting chip, turning an accelerated 'tightening' of disorder on and off. This could help quant
Scientists have rigorously proven that special states in superconductors are not mysterious particles identical to their antiparticles, but ordinary electron blobs with charge. This negates the idea of using them for robust quantum computing via 'braiding'. Now physicists may have to revisit the the
In a nanosandwich of vanadium, magnesium oxide, and iron, electrical noise increased a hundredfold. The reason: magnetic iron temporarily became a superconductor—superconductivity emerged where electron pairs move with parallel spins. Previously, such an effect required two superconductors; here, on
The discovery shows that the expulsion of a magnetic field, the hallmark of superconductors, can occur in ordinary conductors and even insulators. In such 'chimeric' materials, opposite properties coexist. Experiments on networks of superconducting switches promise practical magnetic shields.
Using a quantum computer, researchers simulated a material and for the first time observed how electron pairs form—the ones responsible for superconductivity. Previously they were only detected indirectly. The experiment proves that quantum machines bring us closer to superconductors that work witho
A dust-speck-sized coil, passing a current of millionths of an ampere, shifts the resonator's frequency by a billion cycles per second. This contrast turns the chip into an ideal tool for quantum computers and magnetic spectroscopy.
Scientists turned quantum qubits into dark matter hunters. Invisible particles, nudging electrons in a qubit, cause a jitter like a snapped note on a string. Analyzing this jitter yielded record constraints on dark matter properties.
A thin superconducting film was placed in a cavity that traps invisible light. Even with no light, the vacuum's energy ripples changed the material's properties: the number of current-carrying electron pairs dropped by 13%, and the energy to break them decreased. This demonstrates vacuum sculpting—e
Superconductivity arises when the electron 'sheet' in a metal is so soft that it ripples and nudges electrons along. All metals fall into three classes based on the stiffness of this sheet. For the first time, this new approach explains why gold and copper don't superconduct, and it promises a targe
Gold and silver don't superconduct—until you make them thousands of times thinner than a human hair. Quantum effects in a two-dimensional layer change electron behavior: calculations show that at a thickness of about half a nanometer, resistance vanishes. This could enable electronics that don't hea
A superconducting qubit and a fast modulator turned frequencies into floors for a single photon, letting it wander randomly, oscillate, or move only forward. This is a step toward compact quantum simulators.
Adding bosons, nature's social particles, glues electrons into tighter pairs, so superconductivity survives at higher temperatures. The effect holds widely and could be tested with ultracold atoms and layered materials.
A chatbot-style AI now controls superconducting circuits, designing and executing measurements—including a famous quantum trick. This turns complex quantum hardware into a tool as easy as a smartphone, speeding up progress.
Quantum computers demand precise qubit readout. The new method creates two identical signals—original and echo—and combines them with a clever shift. The noise cancels out, and accuracy skyrockets. Even imperfect amplifiers handle the task, accelerating the arrival of powerful quantum machines.
Light curves around massive bodies — that's gravity's rule. The new method also factors in hadron clouds: specks of matter that slow light down and deepen the bend. A simple formula tied to cloud density will give astronomers sharper shots of black holes.
The new scheme uses a light-filled cavity where photon pairs, like sharp jolts, instantaneously transfer energy to a chain of qubit cells. Quantum links inside the cells suppress leakage, making the battery immune to noise and defects.
Ordinary heat engines can't be both powerful and maximally efficient: upping power increases losses. New research describes a quantum engine on a superconducting chip, where many quantum systems synchronize like fireflies in a forest, bypassing the classic trade-off. This paves the way to energy-sav