Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for using attosecond-scale pulses of light to study the motions of electrons
Some processes in physics happen in the blink of an eye, while others happen in the blink of a photon. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, at the Ohio State University, Ferenc Krausz, at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, and Anne L’Huillier, at Lund University in Sweden, for developing the field of ultra-fast laser pulses. L’Huillier is only the fifth woman to have ever won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
“Attosecond science allows us to address fundamental questions,” said Eva Ollson, the Chair of the Nobel Committee. At the atomic level, the motions of electrons and nuclei typically take place over the course of attoseconds. In the late 19th century, early photographers made use of cameras to determine whether a horse took all of its hooves off the ground at a gallop—a process too fast for the human eye to discern.
L’Huillier broke down some of the first barriers in 1987, when she discovered that passing an infrared laser through a noble gas, such as argon, led to a pattern in the emitted light: a plateau in the frequency. This plateau would prove vital for work done in the early 2000s, when Agostini created multiple 250-attosecond-long pulses of light while Krausz, working independently, generated single 650-attosecond-long pulses.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Karikó and Weissman: 2023 Nobel Prize winners in MedicineThe Nobel Prize-winning scientists in Medicine paved the way for a potent therapeutic method that enabled the development of lifesaving vaccines during the pandemic.
Read more »
Early mRNA research that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 medicine Nobel PrizeBiochemists Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman devised mRNA modifications to make vaccines that trigger good immune responses instead of harmful ones.
Read more »
Scientists behind mRNA COVID Vaccines Win 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineKatalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for mRNA vaccine discoveries that made highly effective COVID vaccines possible
Read more »
Who is Drew Weissman, the 2023 Nobel Prize winner from Penn?Drew Weissman is one of two University of Pennsylvania scientists sharing the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries about messenger RNA.
Read more »
Nobel Prize in physics awarded to researchers looking at electrons in atomsThe award was announced Tuesday from Stockholm.
Read more »
3 scientists win Nobel Prize in physics for looking at electrons in atoms during split secondsThe Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to three scientists who look at electrons in atoms during the tiniest of split seconds.
Read more »