The Nobel Prize in Physics rewards three specialists in the ultra-fast motion of electrons

He The French Pierre Agostini, the Austro-Hungarian Ferenc Krausz and the French-Swedish Anne L’Huillier They won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for making tools for… study the ultrafast movement of electrons in atoms and molecules.

The atomic physicists were awarded “for experimental methods that generate attosecond light pulses for the study of electron dynamics in matter,” according to the jury.

Scientists have succeeded in creating these ultra-short light pulses. “An attosecond is so short that there are as many seconds in a second as there have been seconds since the universe was born.”was an example of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The jury praised the winners for ‘creating extremely short light pulses that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy.’

“The contributions of the laureates have enabled the investigation of processes so fast that they were previously impossible to follow” and the identification of “different molecules, for example in medical diagnosis,” he added.

These findings “open the door to the world of electrons,” those very light elementary particles with a negative electrical charge that are attracted around the atomic nucleus.

“Very, very special”

Professor at Lund University in Sweden, Anne L’HuillierThe 65-year-old woman is the fifth woman to win in this category since the awards were introduced in 1901.

The scientist explained that she got the call from the jury in the middle of class and then it was “difficult” to finish it.

“I’m very excited (…) There aren’t many women who get this award, so it’s very, very special,” she said.

The researcher explained that, in addition to analyzing electrons, her research had specific applications in the semiconductor industry and imaging techniques.

About the study of these particles, he said that “in these types of processes the electrons are more like waves, like waves of water, and what we are trying to measure with our technique is the position of the crest of the wave.”

At a press conference later, the physicist encouraged young women to pursue scientific careers. “Go ahead!” he exclaimed. She is married and has two children. She emphasized that it is possible to combine research with a ‘normal life, with family and children’.

L’Huillier joins Marie Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert Mayer (1963), Donna Strickland (2018) and Andrea Ghez (2020) in the select group of female winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

This scientist was already one of the favorites for the prize after he won the prestigious Wolf Prize in 2022, often a precursor to the Nobel Prize, together with Krausz and the Canadian Paul Corkum.

Ferenc Krausz However, he assured that this call was not expected.

“I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if it was reality,” said the Austro-Hungarian physicist, director of the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The scientist said he was preparing for an open day at the establishment, where he had to give some lectures to visitors.

For his part, Pierre Agostini He is a professor at Ohio State University in the United States.

In 2001, Agostini succeeded in creating a series of light pulses of 250 attoseconds each. At the time, Ferenc Krausz was working on another experiment that allowed him to isolate a light pulse of 650 attoseconds.

Since then, “numerous studies” have been published, Pierre Agostini emphasized in an interview published by his university. “It’s really fantastic, when I think about it, that I’ve come this far.”

The winners of this edition will receive a prize of eleven million kroner (almost $994,000), the largest amount (in Swedish currency) in the more than hundred-year history of these prizes. (JO)