‘Attosecond physics’ lands 3 scientists with the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics
Three scientists have shared the Nobel Prize in Physics this year. Pierre Agostini of Ohio State University in USA, Ferenc Krausz of Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany, and Anne L’Huillier of Lund University in Sweden won the award “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”, wrote the Nobel Committee on X (formerly Twitter).
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the award-giver, said experiments conducted by the three scientists led to the production of light pulses short enough to be measured in attoseconds (one-quintillionth of a second), which can be used to study the behaviour of electrons.
Eva Olsson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said: “Attosecond physics gives us the opportunity to understand mechanisms that are governed by electrons.”
