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What can we learn from the Nobel Physics Prize 2023?
In 2023, the Nobel Physics Prize was awarded to Anne L’Huillier of Lund University, Pierre Agostini of The Ohio State University, and Frenc Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics. As the Nobel Committee of Physics claimed, this is “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulse of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.”
This is truly exciting since we can open the door to the micro-world at the level of electrons. However, it is also a bit confusing: why the pulse of light can be associated with electron dynamics in matter, and what is the “attosecond”?
As Villeneuve mentioned in the article, an attosecond equals 1X10^(-18) second. Generally, it is determined as the extreme time limit to produce a light pulse. Up to now, the shortest light pulse produced is under 60 attoseconds [1]. Yet, why is this important?
We can imagine this scenario: an atom moves and spins in the micro-world and usually takes only femtoseconds. For your information, a femtosecond is equal to 1X10^(-15) second. While the speed of a molecule is determined by its nucleus, whose speed is much slower than light and electrons. And as we covered before, the shortest time to produce a light pulse is less than 60 attoseconds. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method on the timescale in attoseconds…
