Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, the theme of "Critical spirit, audacity, resistance" is being promoted by the University of Liège.
In this context, the University of Liège welcomes Prof. Alain Aspect for a lecture entitled "From concepts to applications: the two quantum revolutions".
About the lecture
The first quantum revolution was based on the concept of wave-particle duality, discovered by Albert Einstein and Louis de Broglie. It elucidated the structure of matter in its most subtle aspects, and led to the invention of the transistor, the laser and computer circuits, the foundation of the information and communication society. The second quantum revolution was initially based on the concept of entanglement, brought to light by the quasi-philosophical debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr, which began in 1935.
The extraordinary nature of this concept was confirmed by experimental tests of Bell's inequalities, highlighted by the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger. Entanglement and the development of methods for controlling single quantum objects are used in the various quantum technologies currently under development, from quantum information to quantum metrology and quantum computers.
During the lecture, Prof. Anne-Sophie NYSSEN, Rector of the Université de Liège, will present the insignia ofDoctor honoris causa to Prof. Alain Aspect.
At the end of the lecture, a welcome drink will be offered to all.
About Prof. Alain Aspect
Alain Aspect, PhD, is co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022 for his fundamental contributions to quantum theory and quantum entanglement. Highly committed to the dissemination of knowledge, he stresses the fundamental importance of schools in social emancipation, and insists on the conditions for free scientific work that can lead to fundamental discoveries when researchers dare to challenge the limits of their own certainties.
More about Alain Aspect
This event is part of ULiège's Grandes conférences universitaires, open to both the university community and the general public.
Find out more about ULiège's Grandes conférences universitaires