The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of attosecond science."
Attoseconds are the shortest measurable units of time, and they are one-quintillionth of a second. The three scientists have developed methods to generate and measure attosecond pulses of light, which have allowed them to study the fastest processes in nature, such as electron dynamics in atoms and molecules.
The three joint winners have given humanity "new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. They 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," the Nobel announcement read.
Physics is the second Nobel to be awarded this week after Hungarian scientist Katalin Kariko and U.S. colleague Drew Weissman won the medicine prize for making mRNA molecule discoveries that paved the way for COVID-19 vaccines.
Created in the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel, the prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901 with a few interruptions, becoming the arguably highest honour for scientists everywhere.
While the award for peace can hog the limelight, the physics prize has likewise often taken centre stage with winners such as Albert Einstein and awards for science that has fundamentally changed how we see the world.
Last year, Alain Aspect, John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger won the prize for work on quantum entanglement, where two particles are linked regardless of the space between them, something that unsettled Einstein himself who once referred to it as "spooky action at a distance".
Announced on consecutive weekdays in early October, the physics prize announcement will be followed by ones for chemistry, literature, peace and economics, the latter a later addition to the original line-up.