2005年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-Laser Work Earns Trio Nobel Prize for Phy

This is All Things Considered. I'm Michelle Norris.

Phone calls from Sweden woke up two American scientists this morning, John Hall and Roy Glauber. They will share the Nobel Prize for Physics with a German Researcher Theodor Haensch. All three worked in various ways on the physics of light. The work has a handful of practical applications but not many, as NPR's David Kestenbaum reports.

Roy Glauber got the phone call early this morning. When it reached him at 7:30, he was still wearing his pajamas² and a neighbour has just brought over a cup of coffee.

Glauber is eighty years old and a physicist³ at Harvard. He's sharing the prize for his theoretical work , pencil and paper equations, done in the 1960s that formed the basis of something called "quantum optics". His work explained after the laser was invented how it was the darn thing actually worked in full detail. And it provided the fundamental framework for how particles of light interact with atoms and molecules⁴.

“There are a few aha moments, but it was done over a period of time when these realizations⁵ dawned in, somewhat gradually. But yes, there are a few aha moments. I'll be hard put to describe them because it’s mathematical.”
”I see. Any idea what you are gonna do with the money?”
”I don't even know what the money is. No one has told me, and I haven't heard a word. “
“According to this, you get one half of one point three million dollars.”
”My heaven, that's the first word I’ve heard. Very interesting. The answer to your question is I haven't the faintest idea.”

Also this morning, on Davidson place in Boulder⁶, Colorado. An excited dog chased the reporter off the front lawn. The house is the home of Physicist John Hall. Hall is 71 years old and will share the other half of the Nobel Prize with German Theodor Haensch for their experimental work. Working together and sometimes in competition, they perfected a way to measure colors or frequencies of light very, very accurately⁷, to 15 decimal places.

”I think there may be 8 of us , we are supported for ten years building this fantastic dinosaur⁸, even though it is the first one on the earth to measure optical frequencies. “

Eventually, Hall's dinosaur, a fancy optical laser device helped redefine how distance itself is measured. Once upon a time, a meter was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole to the equator passing through Paris. Then it was a metal bar with two notches⁹ in it. Today, the meter is pegged¹⁰ instead to the speed of light. The work of Haensch and Hall made that possible. It also allowed the physicists¹¹ to measure the internal structure of the atom with new precision. Hall says he never expected to win the Nobel Prize.

“No ,no. I've been even surprised that I would be paid to do such interesting things. In earlier times, scientists were independently wealthy and they did what they thought was the most interesting thing to do and they paid for it themselves. I've been hugely lucky to be employed by NIST for 43 years or something. “

NIST is a government agency, the National Institution of Standards and Technology. Hall also works at the University of Colorado.
If all this sounds a little esoteric, it is right now. Den¹ Clapner is a physicist at MIT, he brought the coffee over to Roy Glauber's house this morning.

The applications of revolutionary devices come later, because one hasn't had time to think about the possibilities. I'm sure that there will be very important applications. The devices, they are so powerful. They open up so many new areas we're just learning about.

This year's prizes also remind/ us that physics has been around for centuries, the easy questions were answered long ago.
David Kestenbaum. NPR news.

1 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

2 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

3 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

4 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

5 realizations   

认识，领会( realization的名词复数 )； 实现

参考例句：

• Popular realizations of MPI standard are CHIMP and LAM and so on. 目前，公用的MPI实现有CHIMP、lam等。
• The author presents some realizations from the certificate assurance work. 本文介绍了笔者在ISO9001质量体系认证工作中的几点体会。

6 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

7 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

8 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

9 notches   

n.（边缘或表面上的）V型痕迹( notch的名词复数 )；刻痕；水平；等级

参考例句：

• The Indians cut notches on a stick to keep count of numbers. 印第安人在棒上刻V形凹痕用来计数。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They cut notches in the handle of their pistol for each man they shot. 他们每杀一个人就在枪托上刻下一个V形记号。 来自辞典例句

10 pegged   

v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平

参考例句：

• They pegged their tent down. 他们钉好了账篷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She pegged down the stairs. 她急忙下楼。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。