Nobel physics prize goes to trio who lit up secrets of the atom

A general view of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, where the Nobel Prize in Physics is to be announced, in Stockholm, Sweden October 3, 2023. REUTERS/Tom Little

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Scientists Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for creating ultra-short pulses of light that can give a snapshot of changes within atoms, potentially leading to better detection of disease.

The prize-awarding academy said their studies had given humanity new tools for exploring the movement of electrons inside atoms and molecules, a phenomenon that was long thought impossible to trace.