Abstract: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012 was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland "for groundbreaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems". Haroche and Wineland opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum systems without destroying them. For single particles of light or matter, the laws of classical physics cease to apply and quantum physics takes over. Thus many seemingly bizarre phenomena predicted by quantum mechanics could not be directly observed. They independently invented and developed groundbreaking methods for measuring and manipulating individual particles while preserving their quantummechanical nature, in ways that were previously thought unattainable.

Key words: nondestructive measurement, quantum optics, quantum manipulation