Americans and German share Nobel Prize in physics
The Nobel prize for medicine or physiology was shared by two Australians on Monday for showing that a bacterium, rather than stress, causes stomach inflammation and ulcers.
The discovery of the
Helicobacter pylori bacterium by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren in 1982 was met with scepticism by the medical community, which did not think bacteria could survive in the acid conditions of the stomach.
The findings forced drug firms to rethink treatment of a condition that affects millions of people.
Mr Warren, 68, and Mr Marshall, 54, share the 10 million crowns prize (€1.075m).
The physics prize was given to the three for their work in applying modern quantum physics to the study of optics.
Engineers have used their observations to improve lasers, Global Positioning System technology and other instruments.
Mr Glauber, 80, of Harvard University, took half of this year’s Nobel for showing in the 1960s how the particle nature of light affects its behaviour under certain circumstances. Although those conditions are rarely observed in nature, they are often relevant in sophisticated optical instruments.
Mr Hall, 71, of the University of Colorado, and Mr Haensch, 63, of the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitaet in Munich, won “for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique.”
Their research determined the colour of light at the atomic and molecular level. Mr Haensch used evenly spaced laser pulses to determine the frequencies and Mr Hall refined the technique.
Speaking from his office in Munich, Mr Haensch called the award a high point of his career. “I was speechless but of course very happy, exuberant.”
The awards for chemistry, peace and literature will be announced this week, with the economics prize to be awarded on October 10.
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