The Nobel Prize in Physics goes to three researchers: Pierre Agostini from the Ohio State University, Ferenc Krausz from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Anne L’Huillier from the University of Lund.
The three scientists receive the prize for experiments that gave humanity new tools to explore the world of electrons in atoms and molecules. This is shared by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm with.
In experiments, the award winners generated light pulses that were so short that they were measured in attoseconds, according to the statement. One attosecond corresponds the billionth of a billionth of a second. Research has shown that these light pulses could be used to provide images of processes inside atoms and molecules.
“Attosecond physics gives us the opportunity to understand mechanisms controlled by electrons,” the press release quotes Eva Olsson, chairwoman of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
This is what the gold medal looks like.
(Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa)
The Nobel Prize is worth eleven million Swedish kronor, which is the equivalent of around 950,000 euros. The prize is internationally considered one of the most important scientific awards. Last year, the French physicist Alain Aspect, the American experimental physicist John Clauser and the Austrian quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the field of quantum mechanics. The best-known recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics is Albert Einstein, who received it for his work on the photoelectric effect.
The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded on Monday. It went to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. Their research made the mRNA vaccines against Covid-19 possible.