Aaron Douglas O'Connell (born March 5, 1981, in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

) is an American experimental quantum physicist.

Early life and education

O'Connell was born in

on March 5, 1981. In 2005, he received his bachelor's degree from

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront (area), waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. In 2010, he received his Ph.D. in physics from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

Career

While working under Andrew N. Cleland and John M. Martinis at the

, he created the world's first

quantum machine A quantum machine is a human-made device whose collective motion follows the laws of quantum mechanics. The idea that macroscopic objects may follow the laws of quantum mechanics dates back to the advent of quantum mechanics in the early 20th ce ...

. In particular, he was able to transfer the quantum state of a superconducting quantum bit, a device used in

quantum computation A quantum computer is a computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena. On small scales, physical matter exhibits properties of both particles and waves, and quantum computing takes advantage of this behavior using specialized hardware. C ...

, to the motional state of a macroscopic

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a reso ...

. His measurements of the quantum machine constitute the first direct observations of quantized behavior in the motion of a visible object and led the journal ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'' to honor his work as the

Breakthrough of the Year The Breakthrough of the Year is an annual award for the most significant development in scientific research made by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS journal ''Science (journal), Science,'' an academic journal covering a ...

in 2010. O'Connell spoke on the subject at TED2011 in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

References

External links

Aaron D. O'Connell
at TED {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Aaron D. 1981 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Eckerd College alumni Scientists from Allentown, Pennsylvania University of California, Santa Barbara alumni