The paparazzi photographers of physics could win the Nobel Prize today

Should the scientists who photograph superfast electrons be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics? In such cases, Anne L´Huiller at Lund University can be a good fit. But SVT's science reporter Ulrika Engström also hopes for a prize for the physicists who showed that photons can have a kind of telepathic contact with each other.

Who are the paparazzi photographers of physics?

- They are physicists who devote themselves to a completely new type of physics, namely attophysics.

With superfast lasers, they can now look into processes that take place within an attosecond, i.e. a billionth of a billionth of a second.

During the short time span, it is possible to perceive the super-fast movements of the electrons.

What can we see there then?

- Well, we can, for example, "see" the electrons that swarm around the nucleus of a helium atom.

Here's how it works: The physicists send a super-fast laser pulse at the helium atom.

If the laser pulse hits one of the electrons, the electron captures the energy from the pulse - and shoots away.

It escapes from its atom!

It is a process that takes 5 to 15 attoseconds.

Now the attophysicists' "cameras" can immortalize that moment.

What benefit do we get from being able to take super-fast photos like this?

- When physicists look into this really small world, they see the movements of the electrons between the atoms.

That knowledge leads to, for example, being able to build more efficient solar cells and understand how processes in photosynthesis work.

Who do you think should be rewarded?

- This year three attophysicists received the prestigious Wolf prize in physics.

It is the Hungarian-German physicist Ferenc Krausz, the Canadian Paul Corkum and the Swedish-French Anne L´Huiller at Lund University.

You have more favorites?

- Yes, I actually don't understand why the so-called quantum mechanical interconnection has not yet been awarded the Nobel Prize.

It is a mysterious property of photons that allows them to be in instant contact with each other - if they are at opposite ends of the universe.

As strange as it sounds, we can use the telepathic ability of photons, for example in future quantum computers and foolproof quantum encryption.

The prize for this discovery should go to the American John Clauser, the Frenchman Alain Aspect and Anton Zeilinger.

We have an electricity crisis now - no invention on that front?

- Yes!

I would like to strike a blow for the so-called nanogenerator.

In the science news feed, we now see a lot of news about how it is possible to convert energy from everyday movements into electricity.

However, they have not yet managed to harvest any large quantities.

The Chinese-American Zhong Lin Wang is a world leader in this field.

He has developed a nanogenerator that could give us the battery-free pacemaker that is charged by the heart's own beats.

At 11:45 today at the earliest, we will know who or who will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2022. Watch the press conference on SVT play from 11:40 or on svt.se.