• Nobel Prize in Physics 2020: Discoveries

    From ScienceDaily@1337:3/111 to All on Tue Oct 6 21:30:38 2020
    Nobel Prize in Physics 2020: Discoveries about black holes

    Date:
    October 6, 2020
    Source:
    Nobel Foundation
    Summary:
    This year's Nobel Prize in Physics is being awarded to Roger Penrose
    'for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction
    of the general theory of relativity' and jointly to Reinhard Genzel
    and Andrea Ghez 'for the discovery of a supermassive compact object
    at the centre of our galaxy.'


    FULL STORY ========================================================================== [Abstract illustration of | Credit: (c) vchalup / stock.adobe.com]
    Abstract illustration of black hole (stock image).

    Credit: (c) vchalup / stock.adobe.com [Abstract illustration of | Credit:
    (c) vchalup / stock.adobe.com] Abstract illustration of black hole
    (stock image).

    Credit: (c) vchalup / stock.adobe.com Close The Royal Swedish Academy
    of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 with
    one half to Roger Penrose, University of Oxford, UK, "for the discovery
    that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory
    of relativity" and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany and University
    of California, Berkeley, USA and Andrea Ghez, University of California,
    Los Angeles, USA "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at
    the centre of our galaxy."

    ========================================================================== Black holes and the Milky Way's darkest secret Three Laureates share
    this year's Nobel Prize in Physics for their discoveries about one of
    the most exotic phenomena in the universe, the black hole. Roger Penrose
    showed that the general theory of relativity leads to the formation of
    black holes. Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez discovered that an invisible
    and extremely heavy object governs the orbits of stars at the centre of
    our galaxy.

    A supermassive black hole is the only currently known explanation.

    Roger Penrose used ingenious mathematical methods in his proof that
    black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein's general theory
    of relativity.

    Einstein did not himself believe that black holes really exist,
    these super- heavyweight monsters that capture everything that enters
    them. Nothing can escape, not even light.

    In January 1965, ten years after Einstein's death, Roger Penrose proved
    that black holes really can form and described them in detail; at their
    heart, black holes hide a singularity in which all the known laws of
    nature cease. His groundbreaking article is still regarded as the most important contribution to the general theory of relativity since Einstein.

    Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez each lead a group of astronomers that,
    since the early 1990s, has focused on a region called Sagittarius A* at
    the centre of our galaxy. The orbits of the brightest stars closest to the middle of the Milky Way have been mapped with increasing precision. The measurements of these two groups agree, with both finding an extremely
    heavy, invisible object that pulls on the jumble of stars, causing them
    to rush around at dizzying speeds.

    Around four million solar masses are packed together in a region no
    larger than our solar system.

    Using the world's largest telescopes, Genzel and Ghez developed methods to
    see through the huge clouds of interstellar gas and dust to the centre
    of the Milky Way. Stretching the limits of technology, they refined
    new techniques to compensate for distortions caused by the Earth's
    atmosphere, building unique instruments and committing themselves to
    long-term research. Their pioneering work has given us the most convincing evidence yet of a supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.

    "The discoveries of this year's Laureates have broken new ground in the
    study of compact and supermassive objects. But these exotic objects still
    pose many questions that beg for answers and motivate future research. Not
    only questions about their inner structure, but also questions about
    how to test our theory of gravity under the extreme conditions in the
    immediate vicinity of a black hole," says David Haviland, chair of the
    Nobel Committee for Physics.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Nobel_Foundation. Note: Content may
    be edited for style and length.


    ==========================================================================


    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201006080924.htm

    --- up 6 weeks, 1 day, 6 hours, 50 minutes
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)