Nobel Prizes in Physics over the past 10 years

On the afternoon of October 3, 2023, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists: Pierre Agostini (French), Ferenc Krausz (Austrian of Hungarian origin), and Anne L' Huillier (Swedish of French origin) for "experimental methods for generating attosecond light pulses for the study of electron dynamics in matter".

The three scientists who received the Nobel Prize in Physics have given humanity new tools to explore the world inside the atom. (Source: Reuters)

Three scientists, Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier, were honored for their experiments that provided humanity with new tools to explore the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. They demonstrated a method for generating ultrashort pulses of light that can be used to measure rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy.

This is the second award announced in the 2023 Nobel season. Earlier, on the afternoon of October 2nd, the Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm announced that the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to two scientists, Katalin Kariko (Hungary) and Drew Weissman (USA), for their contributions to the development of effective mRNA vaccines for preventing Covid-19.

The next awards to be announced include the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (October 4th) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (October 5th). The Nobel Peace Prize is the only award to be announced in Oslo (Norway) on October 6th. Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize in Economics will conclude Nobel Week 2023 on October 9th.

The Nobel Prize ceremonies will be held on December 10th in Stockholm (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway), with each prize worth 11 million Swedish Krona (US$986,000), an increase of 1 million Swedish Krona compared to 2022.

Let's take a look back at the Nobel Prizes in Physics over the past 10 years:

- In 2022: The award was given to three scientists, Alain Aspect (France), John F. Clauser (USA), and Anton Zeilinger (Austria), for "experiments with photons in quantum entanglement states, establishing a violation of Bell's inequalities and pioneering quantum information science." Their research results have paved the way for the application of new technologies as well as broad research fields such as quantum computing, quantum networks, and quantum communication.

- In 2021: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists: Syukuro Manabe (American of Japanese descent), Klaus Hasselmann (German), and Giorgio Parisi (Italian) for their research on "physical modeling of Earth's climate and quantifying accurate predictions of global warming" and their groundbreaking contributions to the scientific understanding of complex physical systems.

- In 2020: The Nobel Prize in Physics honored three scientists, Roger Penrose (British), Reinhard Genzel (German), and Andrea Ghez (American), for their research related to black holes. The research of these three scientists has made significant contributions to the field of astrophysics, helping to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

- 2019: The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics honored three scientists, with half of the award going to Canadian-American scientist James Peebles for his theoretical discoveries in cosmology, and the other half to Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their discoveries of exoplanets orbiting sun-like stars. The research of these three scientists has contributed to changing human understanding of the universe, helping humanity find the age-old question of whether life exists beyond our borders.

- In 2018: Three scientists, Arthur Ashkin (American), Gerard Mourou (French), and Donna Strickland (Canadian), jointly won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics. These inventions revolutionized laser physics, enabling researchers to explore extremely small objects and ultrafast processes. These highly precise devices opened up new areas of research with numerous applications in industry and medicine.

- In 2017: Three American scientists, Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish, and Kip S. Thorne, were jointly awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of gravitational waves, ripples in the space-time continuum that arise from violent events such as black hole mergers.

- In 2016: Three British scientists, David J. Thouless, Duncan Haldane, and Michael Kosterlitz, were jointly awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theoretical discoveries concerning topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter. Many believe this research will pave the way for future applications in both materials science and electronics.

- In 2015: The award was given to Japanese scientist Takaaki Kajita and Canadian scientist Arthur B. McDonald for proving that fundamental particles (neutrinos) have mass. This discovery changed much of humanity's understanding in the field of cosmology.

- In 2014: Two Japanese scientists, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano, along with Japanese-American scientist Shuji Nakamura, won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention of a new, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient light source, also known as fluorescent diode (LED). Thanks to the invention of LEDs, humanity has an efficient and long-lasting energy source to replace traditional light sources. LEDs also contribute to the protection of Earth's resources.

- In 2013: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to two scientists, Peter Higgs (British) and Francois Englert (Belgian), for their discovery of the Higgs Boson, also known as the "God Particle," which helps explain the existence of mass. Proving the existence of the Higgs particle marked a significant scientific milestone. It could help humanity explain why all forms of matter in the universe have mass. Not only is it significant for the universe, but the Higgs particle will also provide humanity with a new energy source, leading to groundbreaking technological advancements in transportation and telecommunications…

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/cac-giai-nobel-vat-ly-trong-10-nam-qua-244671.html