2011 Nobel Prize in Physics: Discovery of Expanding Universe by Observing Distant Supernovae

[웃 910]

2011 Nobel Prize in Physics: Discovery of Expanding Universe by Observing Distant Supernovae

ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2011) — The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 with one half to Saul Perlmutter, of the Supernova Cosmology Project at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley; and the other half jointly to Brian P. Schmidt, of the High-z Supernova Search Team at Australian National University, Weston Creek, Australia, and Adam G. Riess, of the High-z Supernova Search Team at Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.Written in the stars

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice," Robert Frost wrote. What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year's Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves.

In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role.

The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle.

The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected -- this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion.

For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice.

The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma -- perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again.

Saul Perlmutter, U.S. citizen. Born 1959 in Champaign-Urbana, IL, USA. Ph.D. 1986 from University of California, Berkeley, USA. Head of the Supernova Cosmology Project, Professor of Astrophysics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.

Brian P. Schmidt, U.S. and Australian citizen. Born 1967 in Missoula, MT, USA. Ph.D. 1993 from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Head of the High-z Supernova Search Team, Distinguished Professor, Australian National University, Weston Creek, Australia.

Adam G. Riess, U.S. citizen. Born 1969 in Washington, DC, USA. Ph.D. 1996 from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Prize amount: SEK 10 million, with one half to Saul Perlmutter and the other half to be shared equally between Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111004091704.htm

[scandal 951]

Cosmology, huh? Expanding universe? Accelerating Doppler red shifts and dark energy?

It's all just a "theory", anyway. Unproven. Paid for by squandered taxpayer money with hidden political agendas behind it.

They're all just Socialist commies anyway, especially the Australian dude.

We all know the universe is just turtles all the way down. Anyone who says otherwise is just sheep buying into the conspiracy.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Strange but I remember this stuff from before these guys. I have not read their work so I need to read up on these strange super novas. What I do remember back then is that when they were able to peer to the estimated edge that the Universe seemed to be accelerating. The acceleration was in proportion to the distance. In essence then is that the further they peered the acceleration was more pronounced. Of course the light was dimmed due to red shifting.

Also what I remember is that just because the universe is expanding and accelerating did not mean it would stay that way forever but could eventually slow and even contract. That is why they look for matter. The more matter then the more chance of slowing and contracting. Since that time I was studying this the estimate of how much matter is in the universe has gone up and sometimes the estimate has gone down.

[scandal 951]

My alma mater.

I did my MSc at the Technion.

http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=240651

'This is a great day for me, a great day for the country'

By JPOST.COM STAFF

10/05/2011 16:29

Technion scientist Dan Shechtman shares Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovery of quasicrystals.

Fresh off Wednesday's announcement that he will receive the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Technion's Dan Shechtman was forthcoming in sharing the honor. "I think this is a great day for me, of course, but also a great day for the country," he said at a press conference.

The prize does not belong to him alone, he continued. "There are thousands of scientists that research the subject I developed, and I'm sure they all see the prize as an achievement for themselves as well, and indeed they deserve it."

Accompanied by his wife and grandson, Shechtman said he was somewhat overwhelmed by the media attention. After the official announcement, "all hell broke loose," he said in English. A string of media and congratulatory phone calls prevented him from personally relaying the news to his daughters in the United States. "I don't envy any celebrity," he joked.

Shechtman won the prize for discovering quasicrystals, which have non-repeating patterns the committee described as "fascinating mosaics of the Arabic world reproduced at the level of atoms."

Prior to his discovery, crystals were thought to only have repeating patterns. The controversy of his finding was so great that Shechtman was asked, at one point, to leave his research group. His research, ultimately, prevailed, using Arabic mosaic patterns, which rely on mathematical non-repeating patterns, as a model.

"The main lesson I learned over time is that a good scientist is a humble scientist, not one who is 100 percent sure," Shechtman said.