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TheNobel Prize in physicshas been present to three scientist for their work involving some of the cosmos ’s most mystic , gloomy , secrets — mordant holes .
Roger Penrose , of the University of Oxford in the U.K. , receive one - one-half of the prize " for the discovery that shameful hole constitution is a rich prediction of the general theory of relativity theory , " while Andrea Ghez of University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) and Reinhard Genzel , of the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany , jointly shared the other half " for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy , " the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced this morning ( Oct. 6 ) .
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Ghez is only the quaternary woman to be present a Nobel in physical science ever . ( The other three were Marie Curie in 1903 , Maria Goeppert - Mayer in 1963 and Donna Strickland in 2018 . )
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For his part , Penrose show with eloquent mathematical simulation that the very universe of bootleg holes is a direct consequence of Albert Einstein ’s most famous theory ; in fact , Einstein did n’t think such heavyweights — objects that consume everything , even unclouded , that come within their reach — even be .
Göran K. Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announces the winners of the Nobel Prize in physics on Oct. 6, 2020.
Even so , his theory of general relativity anticipate that somberness resolution from the warp of space - clock time . Under this theory , massive object ( like black holes ) put cosmic gouge in this place - metre material so that other nearby aim ca n’t help but strike into these gravity divot . One of the prevision to come out of general theory of relativity is that black golf hole have an event horizon , a demarcation beyond which nothing , not even light , can run away .
In January 1965 , just 10 age after Einstein had died on April 18 , 1955 , Penrose revealed that pitch-black holes can , and do , organise , describing them in detail in an article that is involve even today " as the most important share to the oecumenical hypothesis of relativity since Einstein , " the academy said in a instruction .
Penrose found that at the core of black cakehole lies an immeasurably heavy core called a singularity , where the laws of nature break down .
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For their part , teams head by Ghez and Genzel revealed the dark secret at the center of theMilky Way .
Since the early 1990s , by focusing on a neighborhood at the center of our beetleweed call Sagittarius A * , Ghez and Genzel independently receive that some super - punishing object there is pulling on bunch of star and causing them to whiz around at mind - bending f number , the honorary society said . In fact , their team key that an object weighing in at a whopping 4 million solar deal is packed into a place no larger than oursolar organization .
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Not only did the two prognosticate the existence of this black titan , but they developed telescope methods that allowed them to see through dim cloud of interstellar natural gas and debris at the center of the Milky Way . They refined these techniques to compensate for distortion that pass due to Earth ’s atmosphere . And in the last , the two groups provided the potent grounds so far that a supermassive black muddle lurks at our galaxy ’s heart and soul .
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" The discoveries of this year ’s laureate have broken unexampled ground in the study of thick and supermassive objects , " David Haviland , death chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics , said in the academy ’s argument . " But these alien physical object still pose many questions that beg for answers and motivate future research . Not only questions about their inner social organization , but also questions about how to test our theory of gravity under the uttermost conditions in the immediate vicinity of a black hole . "
Last year ’s physicsNobel prizewas awarded to three scientist for start the structure and history of the universe and for changing humanity ’s perspective of our major planet ’s place in it , Live Science previously report .
Penrose will receive half of the 10 million kronor ( about $ 1.2 million ) Nobel prize , while Ghez and Genzel will separate the other one-half .
Originally published on Live Science .
