Roger Penrosefrom the University of Oxford, UK, received a prize “For the discovery that education
The scientist used brilliant mathematicalmethods in his work to prove that black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Einstein himself did not believe that black holes really exist - these super-heavy monsters that capture everything that enters them, even light.
In January 1965, ten years after deathEinstein, Roger Penrose proved that black holes can indeed form, and described them in detail. At their core, black holes hide a singularity in which all known laws of nature cease. His groundbreaking paper is still considered the most important contribution to general relativity since Einstein.
Reinhard Hansel from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the University of California Berkeley in collaboration with Andrea Guez from the University of California, Berkeley received the prize “For the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy.”
Scientists lead a group of astronomers, which withthe early 1990s focused on an area called Sagittarius A * at the center of our galaxy. The orbits of the brightest stars closest to the middle of the Milky Way have been mapped with increasing accuracy. The measurements of the two groups coincide: both found an extremely heavy invisible object pulling stars along with it. About 4 million solar masses are clustered together in an area no larger than our solar system.
Using the world's largest telescopes, Hanseland Guez have developed methods to see the center of the Milky Way through huge clouds of interstellar gas and dust. Pushing the boundaries of technology, they perfected new techniques to compensate for the distortions caused by the Earth's atmosphere, creating unique instruments and dedicated to long-term research. Their groundbreaking work has provided humanity with the most compelling evidence for a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
“The discoveries of this year's laureates have opened a new pathin the study of compact and supermassive objects. But these exotic objects still raise many questions that require answers and motivate further research. Not only questions about their internal structure, but also questions about how to test our theory of gravity in extreme conditions in the immediate vicinity of a black hole, ”said David Haviland, chairman of the Nobel Committee on Physics.
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