The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Tuesday awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics to three scientists for creating “flashes of light that are short enough to take snapshots of electrons’ extremely rapid movements.”
The list of winners for this prize includes Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier for their remarkable work because, since electrons travel so swiftly, it was once believed impossible to track their movements.
The committee said that the trio “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.”
It praised the laureates for giving “humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules.”
L’Huillier, who is only the fifth woman to receive a Nobel in physics, said she was teaching when she got the call that she had won. She joked that it was hard to finish the lesson, Phys.org reported.
“This is the most prestigious and I am so happy to get this prize. It’s incredible,” she told the news conference announcing the prize. “As you know there are not so many women who got this prize so it’s very special.”
The Nobel Prize come with a financial prize of $1 million or 11 million Swedish krona. The funds originate from a legacy made by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor who founded the award and died in 1896.
Last year, three scientists shared the physics award for demonstrating that even when separated, small particles could maintain a relationship with one another.
Once questioned, the phenomena are now being investigated for potential practical uses like information encryption.
The announcement comes after the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman on Monday for their groundbreaking work in developing the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
This technology, which was experimental prior to the pandemic, has since been administered to millions worldwide, providing protection against severe COVID-19 cases.
The Nobel Prize committee recognized their contributions to the rapid development of vaccines during a time of unprecedented global health crisis.
