Nobel Prize in physics for laser pioneers includes first woman in 55 years

STOCKHOLM / LONDON (Reuters) – A trio of American, French and Canadian scientists on Tuesday won the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 for its technological breakthroughs in the field of laser technologies that turned light beams into precision tools for all fields. from ocular surgery to micro-machining.

They include the first woman to win a physics award for 55 years.

Canada's Donna Strickland of the University of Waterloo is only the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics, after Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963.

Arthur Ashkin, of Bell Laboratories in the United States, won half of the 2018 award for inventing the "optical tweezers", while Strickland shares the rest with Frenchman Gérard Mourou, also a US citizen, for his work on laser lasers. high intensity.

"It's obvious that we have to celebrate the women physicists because we are on the ground and hope that, in time, things will go faster," Strickland said at a press conference by phone shortly after learned the price.

Nobel prizes have long been dominated by male scientists, as have physics.

Strickland is the first Nobel laureate in all fields for three years. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said last year that it would seek to encourage more actively the candidatures of women researchers to tackle the imbalance.

The victory comes a day after the European Center for Research in Physics, CERN, suspended an Italian scientist, Alessandro Strumia, for announcing at a seminar at the headquarters of his Swiss organization last week that physics had "been invented and built by men ".

Jim Al-Khalili, professor of theoretical physics at the British University of Surrey, said on Twitter that it was "delicious" that Strickland won the Nobel Prize just days after the "misogynistic" comments of Strumia.

The inventions of the three scientists date back to the mid-1980s and have revolutionized laser physics over the years.

"The advanced precision instruments open unexplored fields of research and a multitude of industrial and medical applications," said the academy when awarding the prize of nine million Swedish kronor (1 million of dollars).

WINNER WINNER

Ashkin's work was based on the finding that the pressure of a light beam could push microscopic objects and pinch them in their position. A breakthrough occurred in 1987 when he used the new optical tweezers to catch living bacteria without hurting them.

Ashkin is the oldest Nobel laureate – but the 96-year-old is still busy with new research.

"I'm busy writing an important article on solar energy," he told Reuters during a phone interview.

"I'm surprised," said Ashkin about the price gain. "A guy called me on the phone and woke me up."

Mourou and Strickland's research focused on the development of the most intense laser pulses ever created by humans, paving the way for precision instruments used today in corrective eye surgery and industrial applications.

The prizes for achievements in the fields of science, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901 in accordance with the wishes of the Swedish business magnate Alfred Nobel, whose discovery of dynamite has generated a huge fortune that has served to finance the price.

Physics is this year's second prize and comes after the drug award was made on Monday for discoveries on how to control and manipulate the immune system to fight cancer.

However, for the first time in decades, no Nobel literature prize will be awarded this year after the scandal of sexual misconduct charges that saw a series of members leave the board of directors. Swedish Academy which rewarded him.

Graph of the Nobel laureates: tmsnrt.rs/2y6ATVW

($ 1 = 9.0113 Swedish Kronor)