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Astrophysics researchers who proved that black holes, one of the most dramatic phenomena in the universe, exist in the real universe, not in theory, won the Nobel Prize in Physics this year. From left to right, Roger Penrose, emeritus professor at the University of Oxford, UK, who theoretically revealed that black holes could exist in space, Reinhard Genzell, director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany, and Andrea Gez, who proved by observation that there is a huge black hole at the center of our galaxy. Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Provided by the Nobel CommitteeThe 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three researchers on black holes, one of the most dramatic and romantic phenomena in the universe. The main characters are a physicist who theoretically predicted that there actually is a black hole in the universe, and two astrophysicists who proved the existence of a huge black hole in the center of our galaxy through actual observation. The black hole, which became more familiar with the movie ‘Interstellar’, was just a ‘concept’ that even Einstein wasn’t sure of, but they revealed that the black hole exists.
The Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selected Roger Penrose, emeritus professor at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Reinhard Genzell, director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, and Professor Andrea Gez, of the University of California, Los Angeles, as winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. ) Revealed.
○ Einstein revealed the existence of a black hole, which he wasn’t sure either
Black holes are considered one of the most dramatic phenomena in the universe. A black hole is a celestial body with extreme gravity that cannot escape even its own light due to the extreme contraction of matter. However, until the mid-20th century, there was no evidence or theory that such black holes actually existed in space. “Physicists who mathematically solved Einstein’s theory of general relativity have discovered that the universe has a ‘singularity,’ which is an extremely strong state of gravity,” said Gung-won Kang, principal investigator at the Korean Institute for Scientific Information and Technological (KISTI). But Einstein even believes that such a singularity exists only under very special conditions and does not exist in the real universe. “” Professor Penrose revealed the existence of a black hole in the universe by showing that a singularity can be created at some point, even in special conditions, if matter contracts and shrinks under its own gravity. “Professor Penrose is also famous for inspiring the ‘Penrose-Hawking Singularity Theorem’ published by Stephen Hawking (died 2018). Hawking was interested in the Penrose’s theory and applied the same singularity theory to time to solve the mystery of the timing of the universe’s creation. Principal investigator Kang said: “Hawking pushed back time and constricted matter to create a singularity, thus strengthening the theory. that the universe is born through a great explosion “.
○ Evidence of a giant black hole by observing the orbital motion of stars
General Genzell and Professor Guez have observed the existence of a huge black hole in the center of our galaxy. Professor Woo Jong-hak from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Seoul National University said: “The two observers have observed stars in fast orbit around the center of the Milky Way for decades and analyzed their orbital motion, showing that there is a black hole with a mass 4 million times that of the Sun in the center of the Milky Way. I did.”
Lee Hyeong-mok, director of the Korea Astronomical Research Institute, said: “These discoveries led to the first human research to observe the ‘shadow of a black hole’ in April last year. In this study, a team from EHT research, consisting of about 200 researchers from around the world, including the US, Europe and Japan, including 8 Korean scientists.
The Nobel Committee highlighted that the work of these three winners opened new horizons for the study of very dense and massive celestial bodies such as black holes.
○ Physics award for the fourth time with fewer female winners
Professor Gez is also the fourth woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in history. The Nobel Prize in Physics, which has been awarded since 1901, has fewer female winners among the three Nobel Laureates in science: medicine, chemistry and physics. Until last year, there were a total of 213 winners, with only 3 women, representing only 1% of the total. Marie Curie won the first prize in 1903 and Maria Gertrude Mayer won in 1963. The other is Professor Donna Strikland from the University of Waterloo, Canada, awarded in 2018. On the other hand, 12 people won the medical award and 5 women won the chemistry award. The three winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics will share a prize money of 10 million crowns (about 1.1 billion won). Professor Penrose, who studied alone, divided 5 million crowns in half and the other two winners divided 5 million crowns in half.
In the 10 years since 2011, space-related physics researchers have received six Nobel Prizes, and the field of space physics has continued to dominate. Last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics was also jointly awarded by Professor James Peebles of Princeton University in the United States, who helped uncover the secrets of space evolution and understand the phase of the Earth in space by discovering planets. aliens, and Professors Michel Mayor and Didier Quello of the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Shin-Young Yoon, Dong-A Science Reporter [email protected]
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