Work on Electrons Earns Physics Nobel --- Three scientists win prize for research exploring behavior at a tiny time scale

"The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three scientists whose research demonstrates a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can provide information about processes inside atoms and molecules.

The winners are Pierre Agostini of Ohio State University, Ferenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Anne L'Huillier of Lund University in Sweden.

The Nobel committee on Tuesday celebrated the three scientists' achievements, which help explore the behavior of electrons at the time scale of attoseconds.

There are the same number of attoseconds in one second as there have been seconds since the birth of the universe roughly 14 billion years ago. 

The laureates' work has enabled the investigation of processes at this time scale, which are so rapid that they were previously impossible to follow, according to the committee.

"We can now open the door to the world of electrons," said Eva Olsson, chair of the Nobel committee for physics, adding that physics at the attosecond level gives researchers the opportunity to understand mechanisms governed by electrons, negatively charged subatomic particles that are found in all atoms.

Before this work, electrons' blistering speeds made them challenging to study, and it was almost impossible to identify the subatomic particles' behavior at a single moment in time.

"I see this as kind of the latest in what is a long and remarkable saga of human beings trying to develop ways of timing events to shorter and shorter time scales," said Peter Armitage, a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University who wasn't involved in the research.

This is the time scale you want to look at to understand how atoms form molecules, how electrons around atoms behave and the physical processes that are happening in any chemical reaction, he added.

The committee chose to award work in this field of research because it opens up entire new areas of study, according to Robert Rosner, president of the American Physical Society and professor of astronomy, astrophysics and physics at the University of Chicago.

"They've basically created a tool that allows you to look at phenomena and time scales that we've never been able to explore before," said Rosner, who wasn't involved in the work.

The research could have potential applications in the fields of electronics, chemistry and medicine, helping scientists understand and control how electrons behave, according to Mats Larsson, a member of the Nobel committee for physics.

Attosecond pulses of electrons might be used in medical diagnostics, he added, including one day assisting with diagnosing early-stage cancer for improved treatment.

Armitage said an improved understanding of atomic and molecular interactions and microscopic chemical reactions using this new research tool could be important for various things in the health industry, like understanding how to achieve "tailored molecular interactions for making new drugs."

The research may have other applications too, he said, including contributing to the development of superconductors -- materials that can conduct electric currents without any energy loss -- that can operate at higher temperatures.

The work could also help scientists develop an improved method of harvesting energy from light, according to Armitage. This harvesting process -- generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into electricity -- is known as photovoltaics. It tries to emulate how plants use sunlight to synthesize food during photosynthesis.

L'Huillier was teaching when one of the committee members called and informed her she was one of the winning laureates.

"The last half-hour of my lecture was difficult to do," she said. "There are not so many women who get this prize, so it's very, very special."

L'Huillier is only the fifth woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics. She and her fellow laureates will share the 11 million Swedish kronor prize, the equivalent of $1 million.

Acting Ohio State University President Peter Mohler congratulated Agostini, an emeritus professor, in a statement Tuesday morning.

"The Nobel Prize is the pinnacle of scientific achievement," Mohler said. "All of us at Ohio State celebrate this recognition of Pierre's lifetime of research and scholarship."" [1]

1. U.S. News: Work on Electrons Earns Physics Nobel --- Three scientists win prize for research exploring behavior at a tiny time scale. Woodward, Aylin.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 04 Oct 2023: A.3.