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	{{Short description\|American experimental quantum physicist}}		{{Short description\|American experimental quantum physicist}}
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	{{Biography page}}		{{Biography page}}

WikiHarold: Expand Aaron D. OConnell biography

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Expand Aaron D. OConnell biography

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	{{Short description\|American physicist}}		{{Short description\|American experimental quantum physicist}}
	{{Biography page}}		{{Biography page}}

	{{Infobox ~~person~~		{{Infobox scientist
	\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell		\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell
	\| image = Aaron OConnell.jpg		\| image = Aaron OConnell.jpg
	\| caption = O'Connell in January 2011		\| caption = O'Connell in January 2011
	\| ~~fields = Physics~~		\| birth_date = March 5, 1981
	~~\| known_for~~ = ~~Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born~~ March 5, 1981~~, in~~ Allentown, Pennsylvania~~) is an American experimental~~ quantum ~~physicist~~.		\| birth_place = Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
			\| fields = Experimental quantum physics; quantum nanomechanics; superconducting circuits
			\| alma_mater = Eckerd College; University of California, Santa Barbara
			\| doctoral_advisor = Andrew N. Cleland; John M. Martinis
			\| known_for = First quantum machine; quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator
	}}		}}

	'''Aaron D. O'Connell''' ~~is a biographical subject in the ScholarlyWiki science collection. Aaron Douglas O'Connell~~ (born March 5, 1981~~, in Allentown, Pennsylvania~~) is an American experimental quantum physicist.<ref>{{Cite web \|title=Aaron D. O'Connell \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O'Connell \|publisher=~~Wikipedia~~ \|access-date=2026-05-23}}</ref>		'''Aaron Douglas O'Connell''' (born March 5, 1981) is an American experimental quantum physicist best known for work that demonstrated quantum behavior in a micromechanical resonator.<ref name="wiki">{{Cite web \|title=Aaron D. O'Connell \|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O%27Connell \|publisher=Wikipedia \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref><ref name="nature2010">{{Cite journal \|last1=O'Connell \|first1=A. D. \|last2=Hofheinz \|first2=M. \|last3=Ansmann \|first3=M. \|last4=Bialczak \|first4=R. C. \|last5=Lenander \|first5=M. \|last6=Lucero \|first6=E. \|last7=Neeley \|first7=M. \|last8=Sank \|first8=D. \|last9=Wang \|first9=H. \|last10=Weides \|first10=M. \|last11=Wenner \|first11=J. \|last12=Martinis \|first12=J. M. \|last13=Cleland \|first13=A. N. \|date=2010 \|title=Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator \|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08967 \|journal=Nature \|volume=464 \|issue=7289 \|pages=697-703 \|doi=10.1038/nature08967 \|pmid=20237473}}</ref> His doctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara was central to the experiment that ''Science'' and AAAS described as the first quantum machine and selected as the 2010 Breakthrough of the Year.<ref name="science2010">{{Cite journal \|last=Cho \|first=Adrian \|date=2010-12-17 \|title=Breakthrough of the Year: The First Quantum Machine \|journal=Science \|volume=330 \|issue=6011 \|pages=1604 \|doi=10.1126/science.330.6011.1604 \|pmid=21163978}}</ref><ref name="aaas2010">{{Cite web \|title=Science's breakthrough of the year: The first quantum machine \|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/644105 \|publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science \|date=2010-12-16 \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref>

	== ~~Work~~ and ~~context~~ ==		== Education and doctoral work ==
	~~This page~~ was ~~created to provide~~ a ~~stable local Biography entry for links~~ from the ~~ScholarlyWiki science collection~~.		O'Connell was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Eckerd College in 2005 and completed a Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2010.<ref name="wiki" /><ref name="thesis2010">{{Cite web \|last=O'Connell \|first=Aaron D. \|date=2010 \|title=A Macroscopic Mechanical Resonator Operated in the Quantum Limit \|url=https://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~martinisgroup/theses/OConnell2010.pdf \|publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara \|type=Ph.D. dissertation \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref> His dissertation committee was chaired by Andrew N. Cleland and included [[Biography:John M. Martinis\|John M. Martinis]] and Andreas Ludwig.<ref name="thesis2010" />

	~~This local Biography page supports internal~~ ScholarlyWiki ~~links~~ and ~~keeps~~ the ~~related science pages from pointing~~ to a ~~missing biography target~~.		At UCSB, O'Connell worked in an experimental program that combined superconducting quantum circuits with nanomechanical devices. The central idea was to use a superconducting qubit as a controllable quantum system coupled to the motion of a fabricated mechanical resonator.<ref name="nature2010" /><ref name="ucsb2010">{{Cite web \|title=Physicists Show Theory of Quantum Mechanics Applies to the Motion of Large Objects \|url=https://news.ucsb.edu/2010/012788/physicists-show-theory-quantum-mechanics-applies-motion-large-objects \|publisher=UC Santa Barbara \|date=2010-03-17 \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref>

			== Quantum machine experiment ==
			In 2010 O'Connell was first author of a ''Nature'' paper reporting the preparation of a mechanical resonator in its quantum ground state and the controlled creation of a single phonon, the quantum of mechanical vibration.<ref name="nature2010" /> The device coupled a microwave-frequency mechanical oscillator to a superconducting qubit and was cooled close to absolute zero so that the mechanical mode occupied its lowest allowed quantum state.<ref name="ucsb2010" />

			The experiment was important because it extended tests of [[Physics:Quantum mechanics]] from microscopic systems to the controlled motion of a human-made mechanical object. UCSB described it as the first clear demonstration that quantum mechanics applies to the mechanical motion of an object large enough to be seen by the naked eye.<ref name="ucsb2010" /> AAAS summarized the device as a small mechanical paddle whose motion could be prepared in a quantum state, and ''Science'' named the result its 2010 Breakthrough of the Year.<ref name="aaas2010" /><ref name="ucsb_breakthrough">{{Cite web \|title=Research by Physicists Honored as Science's 2010 Breakthrough of the Year \|url=https://news.ucsb.edu/print/pdf/node/12958 \|publisher=UC Santa Barbara \|date=2010-12-17 \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref>

			In the ScholarlyWiki Quantum Collection, O'Connell is most directly connected with [[Physics:Quantum machine]], quantum control of mechanical resonators, and the experimental boundary between classical-looking motion and quantum states.

			== Public communication ==
			O'Connell presented the quantum-machine experiment to a wider audience in the TED talk "Making sense of a visible quantum object".<ref name="ted">{{Cite web \|title=Aaron O'Connell: Making sense of a visible quantum object \|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_o_connell_making_sense_of_a_visible_quantum_object \|website=TED \|access-date=2026-05-24}}</ref> The talk uses the resonator experiment to explain why the quantum-classical boundary is experimentally subtle rather than simply a question of size.

			== Selected publications ==
			* "Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator", ''Nature'' 464 (2010), with M. Hofheinz, M. Ansmann, R. C. Bialczak, M. Lenander, E. Lucero, M. Neeley, D. Sank, H. Wang, M. Weides, J. Wenner, J. M. Martinis, and A. N. Cleland.<ref name="nature2010" />
			* ''A Macroscopic Mechanical Resonator Operated in the Quantum Limit'', Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara (2010).<ref name="thesis2010" />

	== References ==		== References ==
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	== External links ==		== External links ==
	* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O~~'Connell~~ Aaron D. O'Connell on Wikipedia]		* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O%27Connell Aaron D. O'Connell on Wikipedia]
			* [https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_o_connell_making_sense_of_a_visible_quantum_object TED talk: Making sense of a visible quantum object]
			* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aaron_OConnell.jpg Portrait on Wikimedia Commons]

	{{Author\|Harold Foppele}}		{{Author\|Harold Foppele}}

	~~{{Sourceattribution\|Biography:Aaron D. O'Connell\|1}}~~

WikiHarold: Add Aaron D. OConnell portrait

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	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell		\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell
			\| image = Aaron OConnell.jpg
			\| caption = O'Connell in January 2011
	\| fields = Physics		\| fields = Physics
	\| known_for = Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental quantum physicist.		\| known_for = Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental quantum physicist.

WikiHarold: Add biography overview template

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	{{Short description\|American physicist}}		{{Short description\|American physicist}}
			{{Biography page}}

	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell		\| name = Aaron D. O'Connell

WikiHarold: Create missing Biography page with safe infobox

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Create missing Biography page with safe infobox

New page

{{Short description|American physicist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Aaron D. O'Connell
| fields = Physics
| known_for = Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental quantum physicist.
}}

'''Aaron D. O'Connell''' is a biographical subject in the ScholarlyWiki science collection. Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is an American experimental quantum physicist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aaron D. O'Connell |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O'Connell |publisher=Wikipedia |access-date=2026-05-23}}</ref>

== Work and context ==
This page was created to provide a stable local Biography entry for links from the ScholarlyWiki science collection.

This local Biography page supports internal ScholarlyWiki links and keeps the related science pages from pointing to a missing biography target.

== References ==
{{reflist|3}}

== External links ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O'Connell Aaron D. O'Connell on Wikipedia]

{{Author|Harold Foppele}}

{{Sourceattribution|Biography:Aaron D. O'Connell|1}}

Biography:Aaron D. O'Connell - Revision history

WikiHarold: Place biography table of contents at upper left

WikiHarold: Expand Aaron D. OConnell biography

WikiHarold: Add Aaron D. OConnell portrait

WikiHarold: Add biography overview template

WikiHarold: Create missing Biography page with safe infobox