Black Hole Discoveries Win The Nobel Prize in Physics
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez on October 6. Penrose has been awarded this honor for his theoretical work discovering that general relativity can help predict black hole formation, and Genzel and Ghez were awarded this honor for discovering a huge, invisible object in the center of the galaxy that directs the orbits of stars. Penrose was awarded one half of the prize, with the other half going to Genzel and Ghez.
Penrose has proved that the formation of black holes, places in space where light cannot get out because the pull of gravity is so strong, is a consequence of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein’s theory states that our perception of gravity is due to distortions in space and time caused by massive objects. While at Birkbeck College, in 1965, Penrose published a paper on the collapse theory, essentially on how black holes can form when stars collapse. Now at Oxford, Penrose says, “In 1964, the existence of Black Holes was not properly appreciated.”
This is considered his most groundbreaking work. Some may recognize his name from the award-winning movie The Theory of Everything, where actor Christian McKay played Penrose. However, Penrose says he is nothing like the character.
Genzel and Ghez also won their Nobel Prize for a discovery involving a black hole in the middle of the galaxy. They measured the orbits of stars in the Milky Way and found that the stars were being pulled in one direction by a great invisible force—a black hole. This black hole is named Sagittarius A*.
Ghez, the fourth woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics, says her work was motivated by “a passion for the universe.” She also hopes to inspire other young female scientists.
She and Genzel are both currently based in California. However, their teams do not work entirely together. Ghez says, “I think in a project like this where it’s very difficult there’s a tremendous advantage to keeping the projects independent. There’s nothing like competition to keep you going, to propel you forwards.”
When asked about his reaction to receiving the news of the Nobel Prize, Genzel says, “It was completely unexpected and I’m … wow … I’m on cloud 17.”