Nobel To U.S., German Physicists
Americans John L. Hall and Roy J. Glauber and German Theodor W. Haensch have won the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics.
The prize was given to the three for their work in advancing optic technology to make lasers, GPS technology and other methods more accurate and concise in their readings.
Hall and Haensch won half the prize "for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique." Glauber won the other half of the prize for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence.
Hall and Haensch won "for their development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, that is, the determination of the color of the light of atoms and molecules with extreme precision," the assembly said in its citation.
"The important contributions by John Hall and Theodor Haensch have made it possible to measure frequencies with an accuracy of 15 digits," the assembly added. "Lasers with extremely sharp colors can now be constructed and with the frequency comb technique precise readings can be made of light of all colors.
The Pulitzer assembly said the technique makes it possible to develop extremely accurate clocks and improved GPS technology.
Of the six Nobels, the physics prize has perhaps the broadest scope of research, making speculation ahead of the announcement as to who — or what — may win very difficult.
Alfred Nobel, the wealthy Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite who endowed the prizes, left only vague guidelines for the selection committee, saying in his will that the prize should be given to those who "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" and "shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics."
In the last decade, winning physics discoveries have ranged from explaining the makeup of faraway galaxies to creating high-speed electronics that led to breakthroughs in how information is transmitted worldwide at superfast speeds.
Last year's prize was given to Americans David J. Gross, H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczeck for their explanation of the force that binds particles inside an atomic nucleus.
The prize is the second Nobel to be announced this week. On Monday, Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for proving, partly by accident, that bacteria and not stress was the main cause of painful ulcers of the stomach and intestine.
The awards for chemistry, peace and literature will be announced through the end of the week and culminate Oct. 10 with the announcement of the economics prize.
The prizes include a check for $1.3 million and will be awarded by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10.