Skip Navigation

Nobel laureate Hänsch lectures in Education City

Published Oct 25, 2009

Professor Theodor W. Hänsch, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics, on Monday delivered a lecture, "Heart Beat of Light," to an audience of faculty, staff, students and local scientists in the Texas A&M Engineering Building in Education City. Hänsch, director of the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Germany, shared his work on the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, studies of the dispersion of light, including the "laser frequency combs" technique. The technique revolutionized the way in which scientists measure the frequency of light, providing results to an astonishing 15 decimal places -- millions of times more precise than prevailing technology. In addition, Hänsch presented his ongoing work in perfecting the technology for precision astronomy, which allows scientists to search for earth-like planets in distant solar systems and observe the continuing expansion of the universe. The lecture was co-hosted by Texas A&M at Qatar and Qatar Foundation. For more information visit www.qf-researchdivision.org.