Friday, July 27, 2007

Follow-up to Women and the Physics Nobel Prize

I was asked at least a couple of times if I want to predict the next woman who might win the Nobel Prize in physics. Of course, this is impossible to do since one has to actually figure our which of the authors that one has read, but never met, are actually women.

Still, I do have two names that automatically popped into my head as the leading candidates to be nominated and could possibly get the Nobel Prize in physics, based on what they have done so far.

The first candidate is someone I've mentioned already on here, Lene Hau of Harvard. She and her group has been prolific in "stopping light", and refining this ability to store light in ultra-cold gasses. Not only is this a fundamental curiosity, but it can also be of importance in quantum computing and how light couples with matter.

The other candidate is Deborah Jin of JILA. Her group's work on fermionic condensate bridges between the BEC and BCS states, which is an important fundamental knowledge that connects the two.

So let's see if I get any of this correct. :)

Zz.

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