Ferenc Krausz accepted the Nobel Prize in Physics

The 61-year-old was honored at the Stockholm Concert Hall with his co-prize winners in physics, Pierre Agostini and Anne L’Huillier. The attosecond physics they developed “enables us to answer fundamental questions,” said the physics laureates at their presentation.

Ceremony with royal guests

The solemn ceremony with around 1,500 invited guests began with the entry of the royal family – alongside King Carl XVI. Gustaf and Queen Silvia also Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel – and the Swedish royal song “Kungssången” opened. In her opening speech, the chairwoman of the Nobel Foundation, Astrid Söderbergh Widding, recalled the conviction of the prize founder Alfred Nobel, who “believed in the unique power of science, literature and peace initiatives to change the world for the benefit of humanity.”

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Söderbergh Widding was convinced “that this message is all the more important, as today the optimism that prevailed in Nobel’s time is being replaced by radical pessimism or even resignation, and our understanding of our task in science, culture and civil society is being questioned by new crises.” Especially now, at a time when the polarization of opinions is increasing, when democracies are being undermined and when wars and conflicts around the world continue to claim so many victims, “we need to remember Nobel’s vision more than ever believed in knowledge, enlightenment and the pursuit of truth”.

950,000 euros for three physicists

Eva Olsson, chairwoman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, then recognized the three physics laureates, who were honored “for experimental methods for generating attosecond light pulses for the study of the dynamics of electrons in matter.” Krausz, director at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching and professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, shares the Nobel Prize, worth eleven million Swedish crowns (around 950,000 euros), with Pierre Agostini from the Ohio State University (USA). and Anne L’Huillier University of Lund (Sweden).

The attosecond is “the time scale of the world of electrons – a world that we can now explore,” said Olsson, recalling that in 1925 Werner Heisenberg said that this world could not be seen. “But thanks to attosecond light pulses, this is slowly starting to change.”

Handover according to strict protocol

Shortly before 4:30 p.m., the physicists were the first to receive the insignia associated with the award from the king: the Nobel Prize medal and certificate. The presentation takes place in alphabetical order according to strict protocol: After receiving the certificate and medal, the award winners shook the king’s hand and bowed three times: once towards the king, then towards the academy and finally towards the audience.

This year’s ceremony took place under increased security checks at the entrance and was accompanied by a demonstration by climate activists and a solidarity rally for Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.

After the physicists, the award winners for chemistry, medicine, literature and economics will be honored before the ceremony ends at around 5:15 p.m. with the Swedish anthem.

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