(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON — A pioneer in the field of quantum, Antoine Browaeys, Institut d'Optique, CNRS, France, has been recognized by Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, and the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG) with the 2026 Herbert Walther Award. He is honored for the realization of arrays of single neutral atoms held in optical tweezers as a platform for exquisitely controlled quantum simulation of many-body physics, and their development as a candidate platform for scalable quantum computation.
“Congratulations to Antoine Browaeys on this well-deserved recognition,” said Jim Kafka, Optica 2025 President. “He is a world-leader in the fields of quantum optics and many-body quantum physics. Through his visionary research and leadership, he is shaping the future of quantum technologies.”
Browaeys is a research director at the Institut d’Optique’s Laboratoire Charles Fabry. He received his PhD from the Institut d’Optique and completed a post-doc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA. He is an experimentalist whose work covers atomic physics, quantum optics, quantum many-body physics, and quantum information science.
He is widely known for his groundbreaking work on neutral atom arrays. Antoine’s innovative approach included an ensemble of individual atoms, each trapped in optical tweezers, arranged in arbitrary 2D geometries. This platform allows for the exploration of quantum many-body physics. His work is advancing the field of quantum science and holds great promise for the future.
He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences and received the Aimé Cotton Prize of the French Physical Society, “La Recherche” Prize in Physics, CNRS Silver Medal, and French Academy of Science Alfred-Verdaguer Prize.
This award commemorates Max Planck Institute of Quantum Physics Professor Herbert Walther's groundbreaking innovations in quantum optics and atomic physics and other wide-ranging contributions to the scientific community. The Herbert Walther Award recognizes distinguished contributions in quantum optics and atomic physics as well as leadership in the international scientific community.
About DPG
The Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e. V. (DPG), headquartered near Bonn, is the oldest national society and largest physical society in the world. As a non-profit organization with 62,000 members, DPG promotes the transfer of knowledge within the scientific community through conferences, events and publications, and aims to open a window to physics for anyone who is curious to learn more. The physics society as well aims to encourage junior scientists and promote equal opportunities in science.
About Optica
Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, is the Society dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in the field. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica's renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement. Discover more at: Optica.org
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Optica and DPG name Antoine Browaeys 2026 Herbert Walther Award recipient
2025-12-05
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