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Trio win Nobel Physics Prize for black hole research

Trio win Nobel Physics Prize for black hole research

Three scientists won this year's Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday (Oct 6) for advancing our understanding of black holes, the all-consuming monsters that lurk in the darkest parts of the universe. Briton Roger Penrose received half of this year's prize "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity," the Nobel Committee said. German Reinhard Genzel and American Andrea Ghez received the second half of the prize "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy."

The prize celebrates "one of the most exotic objects in the universe," black holes, which have become a staple of science fact and science fiction and where time seems to stand still, according to the committee.


"Black holes, because they are so hard to understand, is what makes them so appealing,'' Ghez told The Associated Press news agency Tuesday morning. "I really think of science as a big, giant puzzle."

Penrose proved with mathematics that the formation of black holes was possible, based heavily on 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," the committee said. "Nothing can escape, not even light."


They both found that there was "an extremely heavy, invisible object that pulls on the jumble of stars, causing them to rush around at dizzying speeds."


Now scientists know that all galaxies have supermassive black holes.


"Today we accept these objects are critical to the building blocks of the universe," Ghez told an audience at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences by phone shortly after the announcement.


"I hope I can inspire other young women into the field. It's a field that has so many pleasures. And if you're passionate about the science, there's so much that can be done," Ghez said.

The Nobel Committee said black holes "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," it said.



