The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electro dynamics in matter”.
Key points
- The three Nobel Laureates in Physics 2023 are being recognised for their experiments, which have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules.
- The three scientists have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy.
- An atom, a tiny unit into which matter can be divided, is composed of a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and electrons that travel around this nucleus. Electrons move so fast that it is impossible to observe them in real time. The work of L’Huillier, Agostini, and Krausz has brought humanity closer to observing and studying the movement of electrons.
- Their experiments granted the Laureates to observe extremely brief events that transpire in a few tenths of attoseconds—a quintillionth (10−18) of a second. An attosecond is so short that there are as many in one second as there have been seconds since the birth of the universe.
- This brief pulses of light can be used to provide images of what occurs inside atoms and molecules.
- The potential applications of their research includes in the field of diagnosing diseases and developing electronic gadgets.
