Light or new materials tipped for Nobel Physics Prize

Research into light, new materials and cosmic exploration are seen as possible contenders for Tuesday's Nobel Physics Prize, though experts warn it is difficult to predict a winner in the vast field.

The award, to be announced at 11:45 am (0945 GMT) in Stockholm, is the second Nobel of the season after the Medicine Prize on Monday went to mRNA researchers Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking technology that paved the way for messenger RNA (mRNA) Covid-19 vaccines.

Lars Brostrom, science editor at Swedish Radio, told AFP ahead of the Physics Prize announcement that while it was "as usual hard to know" who would win, one potential laureate was French-Swedish atomic physicist Anne L'Huillier.

She could be honoured for her work into "really short laser pulses that allow you to follow the super-fast movement of electrons inside molecules," Brostrom said.

L'Huillier was one of the recipients of last year's prestigious Wolf Prize, whose laureates occasionally go...