Who will join Svante Pjabo, the “father” of Denisova’s husband, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday? The second Nobel Prize of the year, the prize for physics, is awarded on Tuesday, and among the nominees are several researchers related to the field of light, according to AFP.

Specialists in invisibility, specialists in “crystals” capable of changing the propagation of waves, pioneers of photovoltaic energy or champions of the quantum world?

The Physics Prize will be announced around 12:45 in Stockholm.

The Invisibility of John B. Pendry…

Last year, the Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize to two specialists in climate change modeling — American-Japanese Syukuro Manabe and German Klaus Hasselmann, as well as Italian Giorgio Parisi, a specialist in complex physical systems.

After space-related awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020, some believe it is too early to see the discipline crowned again. “There have been so many awards in astrophysics and cosmology in the last five years. I don’t think that’s the case this year,” said David Pendlebury of Clarivate, an analytics company that has a database of Nobel laureates in science and economics.

British scientist John B. Pendry, often mentioned as a favorite in recent years, may also get his turn this year. Able to make objects invisible with the help of “metamaterials” whose structure allows the manipulation of light, he made a name for himself with the Harry Potter-style “invisibility cloak”.

… or research by other light experts?

According to David Pendlebury, other light experts – Canadian John Sajiv and American Eli Jablonovich – would deserve the Nobel Prize. In 1987, they independently developed “photonic crystals”, which allow modifying the propagation of electromagnetic waves.

In addition, from the point of view of light, the field of modern energy – photovoltaics – definitely deserves the Nobel, according to experts.

“But it’s very difficult in this field because there are so many people involved, and that might be one of the reasons why there won’t be a prize,” says Ulrika Björksten, a researcher at Swedish Radio.

If the Academy of Sciences had to choose pioneers in this field, it would consider South Korea’s Nam-Gyu Park, whose research has improved the stability of photovoltaic cells.

Or the British scientist Henry Snaith, a specialist in the use of perovskite, a material discovered in the 19th century by the Russian mineralogist Lev Perovsky, for solar energy.

Quantum physics always has a chance

Quantum physics has also been regularly nominated for a possible prize in recent years, with Alain Aspect of France, Anton Zeilinger of Austria, John Clauser of America and Ronald Hanson of Holland among the favourites.

Unless the Academy leans towards quantum computers, which promise a revolution that will greatly exceed the capabilities of current classical computers.

The American Charles Bennett and the Canadian Gilles Brassard are often mentioned in this field.

Only four women have won the Nobel Prize in Physics

Like the economics prize and other science prizes, the Nobel Prize in Physics suffers from a dearth of female laureates, but there are few female names among the contenders this year.

Since the awards were established in 1901, only four women have won in physics, the last being American astrophysicist Andrea Guez two years ago.

In an interview with AFP after the very “male” 2021 season (12 men and one woman), Swedish Academy of Sciences secretary general Jöran Hansson called the low number of winners “sad” but rejected the idea of ​​gender quotas.

The Nobel Science Prize ceremony concludes on Wednesday with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, followed by the long-awaited Literature Prize on Thursday and the Peace Prize, the only award to be presented in Oslo, on Friday. The Nobel Prize in Economics, a recent creation, will complete the ball next Monday.

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