The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three physicists- Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford, Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Andrea Gehz of the University of California Los Angeles- for their discoveries related to black holes.
As is customary, the announcement was made at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm around 4 pm (Bangladesh Time) on Tuesday.
Roger Penrose of the University of Oxford demonstrating that black holes could exist in accordance with the theory of relativity; and Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and Andrea Gehz of the University of California Los Angeles, discovered a compact solid at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
It is common for several scientists who worked in related fields to share the prize. Last year’s prize went to Canadian-born cosmologist James Peebles for theoretical work about the early moments after the Big Bang, and Swiss astronomers Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for discovering a planet outside our solar system.
The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (more than $1.1 million), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The amount was increased recently to adjust for inflation.
Earlier on Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize for physiology and medicine to Americans Harvey J. Alter and Charles M. Rice and British-born scientist Michael Houghton for discovering the liver-ravaging hepatitis C virus.
The chemistry, literature and peace prizes will be awarded this week, and the economics prize will be awarded next Monday.
Source: ABC News
