The 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Anne L'Huillier, Ferenc Krausz, and Pierre Agostini "for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter". In short, the prize was given in the field of "attosecond physics".

Let's first get our time-related unit prefixes straight. The "atto" before the second means it is one-billionth of a billionth of a second (10-18). This is an insanely small amount of time. To put it into perspective, the number of attoseconds in a second is the same as the number of seconds that have lapsed since the Big Bang (13.8 billion years ago).

The question is, why should anyone be concerned about such a minuscule amount of time? That's because the electrons inside the atoms move in attoseconds, and we want to study these movements. Hence, scientists were trying to produce light pulses that last a few attoseconds.

It's like when you see something, the light from that object reflects on your eyes, and you see what's in front of you. This is the same with electrons. We want to shoot light pulses that catch a running electron, and the reflected light will give us how the electron looks (shape of the probability distribution) and where they are (position of the distribution). How such a small light pulse is created is something that's best left alone to the scientists.

Before the works of L'Huillier, Krausz, and Agostini, we could only see at the atomic level; the subatomic world was out of our reach. But their groundbreaking work has enabled a whole new field of study of electrons' movements. From molecular identification and semiconductors to medical diagnosis, the applications of attosecond physics are evolving day by day.

Anne L'Huillier laid down the early work in this field in the late 90s. With her work, the theoretical foundations of attosecond physics were established. This led her to be the only fifth woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics.

Now, as an undergrad, the scope to work in this emerging field is limited in Bangladesh. But the theoretical foundations required in this field, such as quantum mechanics, optics, and laser physics, are some of the areas where Physics departments in Bangladeshi universities shine. As a Physics student, if you want to engage in similar research or work, there are plenty of opportunities out there.

The Physics programmes in top Bangladeshi universities are quite well-rounded. You can gather a sound background in the theoretical aspects of attosecond physics at the undergrad level, then join world-class institutes for grad school to do all the "cool" experimental work. 

References:

1. THE ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. (3 October, 2023). Scientific Background to the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023.

2. Tom Douglas-Walker. (22 January, 2022). A Brief Journey into Attosecond Physics.

The writer is a Physics sophomore at Brac University.