Biography:Aaron D. O'Connell: Difference between revisions
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Latest revision as of 23:01, 24 May 2026
| Aaron D. O'Connell | |
|---|---|
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| O'Connell in January 2011 | |
| Born | March 5, 1981 Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States
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| Known for | First quantum machine; quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator |
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.[1][2] 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.[3][4]
Education and doctoral work
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.[1][5] His dissertation committee was chaired by Andrew N. Cleland and included John M. Martinis and Andreas Ludwig.[5]
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.[2][6]
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.[2] 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.[6]
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.[6] 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.[4][7]
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".[8] 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.[2]
- A Macroscopic Mechanical Resonator Operated in the Quantum Limit, Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara (2010).[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Aaron D. O'Connell". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_D._O%27Connell.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 O'Connell, A. D.; Hofheinz, M.; Ansmann, M.; Bialczak, R. C.; Lenander, M.; Lucero, E.; Neeley, M.; Sank, D. et al. (2010). "Quantum ground state and single-phonon control of a mechanical resonator". Nature 464 (7289): 697-703. doi:10.1038/nature08967. PMID 20237473. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08967.
- ↑ Cho, Adrian (2010-12-17). "Breakthrough of the Year: The First Quantum Machine". Science 330 (6011): 1604. doi:10.1126/science.330.6011.1604. PMID 21163978.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Science's breakthrough of the year: The first quantum machine". American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2010-12-16. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/644105.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 O'Connell, Aaron D. (2010). "A Macroscopic Mechanical Resonator Operated in the Quantum Limit". University of California, Santa Barbara. https://web.physics.ucsb.edu/~martinisgroup/theses/OConnell2010.pdf.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Physicists Show Theory of Quantum Mechanics Applies to the Motion of Large Objects". UC Santa Barbara. 2010-03-17. https://news.ucsb.edu/2010/012788/physicists-show-theory-quantum-mechanics-applies-motion-large-objects.
- ↑ "Research by Physicists Honored as Science's 2010 Breakthrough of the Year". UC Santa Barbara. 2010-12-17. https://news.ucsb.edu/print/pdf/node/12958.
- ↑ "Aaron O'Connell: Making sense of a visible quantum object". https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_o_connell_making_sense_of_a_visible_quantum_object.
External links
- Aaron D. O'Connell on Wikipedia
- TED talk: Making sense of a visible quantum object
- Portrait on Wikimedia Commons
