Extract from ABC News
The 2023 Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to three scientists who developed a way to study the behaviour of electrons in atoms during the tiniest of split seconds.
Key points:
- Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier found a way to create very short pulses of light, advancing the study of electrons
- Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for research that led to mRNA vaccines
- The recipients of the remaining four Nobel Prizes for 2023 will be announced over the coming days
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday named Pierre Agostini of The Ohio State University in the United States, Ferenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany and Anne L'Huillier of Lund University in Sweden as the prize's recipients.
They were recognised in equal parts for their development of "experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter", a breakthrough that gives humanity new tools to observe behaviours of electrons previously thought to occur too rapidly to follow.
The field of research is currently more about furthering humanity's understanding of the universe than producing practical applications, but the hope is that further developments will lead to more advanced electronics and better disease diagnosis.
Dr L'Huillier, who is only the fifth woman to win a Nobel in the field of physics, said she was teaching when she got the call that she had won.
She joked that it was hard to finish the lesson.
"This is the most prestigious and I am so happy to get this prize. It's incredible," she told a news conference at the prize's announcement.
"As you know there are not so many women who got this prize, so it's very special."
Chemistry, literature, peace prizes to come
The physics prize was awarded a day after Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Last year, three scientists jointly won the physics prize for proving that tiny particles could retain a connection with each other even when separated.
The phenomenon was once doubted, but is now being explored for potential real-world applications such as encrypting information.
Nobel announcements will continue with the chemistry prize on Wednesday and the literature prize on Thursday.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, and the economics award on Monday, October 9.
The prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (about $1.56 million) drawn from a bequest left by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.
The prize money was raised by 1 million kronor this year because of the plunging value of the Swedish currency.
The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of Mr Nobel's death.
The prestigious peace prize is handed out in Oslo, according to his wishes, while the other award ceremony is held in Stockholm.
AP
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