Adapted from the original article by Jeff Grabmeier, published in Ohio State News.

On December 10, 2023, The Ohio State University celebrated an unforgettable moment as Professor Emeritus Pierre Agostini received the Nobel Prize in Physics, recognizing his groundbreaking work in ultra-fast physics. Although the ceremony took place in Stockholm, Sweden, Ohio State’s Physics Research Building was filled with excitement as students, researchers, and faculty gathered to watch the livestream.

The applause was deafening as Agostini, along with his fellow laureates Ferenc Krausz from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Anne L'Huillier from Lund University, received the Nobel Prize from the King of Sweden. Their collective work—generating attosecond pulses of light to capture the movement of electrons—represented a monumental leap in the field of physics.

It was a proud moment for everyone in the Agostini-Dimauro Atomic Physics Research Group at Ohio State, who had long admired Agostini not just for his scientific brilliance, but for his kindness, mentorship, and dedication. As Dan Tuthill, a graduate student in the lab, shared: “Pierre is just such a deserving person. It is a great triumph for a very long line of work.”

Yaguo Tang, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab, added: “Of course, we knew Pierre had done a lot of great work. But it is just so hard to imagine that someone we worked with would get the Nobel Prize.”

The recognition was also a proud moment for the broader Ohio State community. Sherry Chan, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences, remarked: “It is a culmination of a lot of work here. Ohio State always had the knowledge and the research, and now we are recognized on an international stage.”

View the original article written by Jeff Grabmeier.

You can watch the recordings of the Nobel Ceremony, Concert, and Lectures on the Nobel Prize YouTube Channel.

For further reading, check out this Eleven Warriors article.

Learn more about the Nobel Prize in physics.