Exploring the Universe: The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics

[DrClaude]

Mixed prize this year, so I don't know whether this thread belongs to cosmology or astrophysics, so I'll post in GD instead

One half to James Peebles "for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology", the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz "for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star."

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2019/summary/

 

[gleem]

Surprised? The Physics World website blog thought it would be the year for a prize in Quantum Foundations.

 

[Orodruin]

We streamed the announcement at the PPNT conference in Uppsala right before lunch. The last talk before lunch ended just in time for the announcement to be made as soon as the sound of the video turned on.

It is a good prize I think. Well deserved.

I do not like the comparison Ulf Danielsson made of the Universe to a cup of coffee (a lot of coffee - dark energy, quite a bit of milk - dark matter, and a tiny bit of sugar - ordinary matter). I take my coffee without sugar, but I like having matter in my universe.

Also, Ulf’s introduction was directly copied from the Big Bang Theory theme song by Barenaked Ladies. Copyright infringement?

 

[vanhees71]

When reading the mentioned Physics World feature I also thought Zeilinger et al were due for the prize finally. I guess the trouble for the Nobel Commitee here however is that there are many experimental researchers on quantum foundations, and it's not easy to pick out a maximum of three with this topic.

The cosmology/astro prize is of course well deserved. I had heard of Peeble's broad work on observables of the big bang in the cosmic microwave background, dark matter, structure formation, bb nucleosynthesis, and all that. It was a good decision to give the prize for all this work on many aspects of cosmology over the decades, making it to the precise and exact science (including the quibbles concerning what dark matter, dark energy really might be and also the trouble with the Hubble constant, $H_0$).

I never associated names with the discovery of exoplanets. Now I know at least two :-).

The only worry I have that now it's unlikely for my colleagues in Frankfurt to get the Nobel for the "black hole picture" next year :-(, because usually they seem to vary the topics awarded with the prize over the years.

 

[gleem]

The only worry I have that now it's unlikely for my colleagues in Frankfurt to get the Nobel for the "black hole picture" next year :-(, because usually they seem to vary the topics awarded with the prize over the years.

Age may be a factor. This year again we see two older physicists getting recognition( no posthumous awards).

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

We streamed the announcement at the PPNT conference in Uppsala right before lunch. The last talk before lunch ended just in time for the announcement to be made as soon as the sound of the video turned on.

It is a good prize I think. Well deserved.

I do not like the comparison Ulf Danielsson made of the Universe to a cup of coffee (a lot of coffee - dark energy, quite a bit of milk - dark matter, and a tiny bit of sugar - ordinary matter). I take my coffee without sugar, but I like having matter in my universe.

Also, Ulf’s introduction was directly copied from the Big Bang Theory theme song by Barenaked Ladies. Copyright infringement?

I don't take coffee, but I like sugar flavoured drinks.
So does that mean I don't believe in dark energy?

 

[DennisN]

I don't take coffee, but I like sugar flavoured drinks.
So does that mean I don't believe in dark energy?

https://www.nutricion24.com/en/dark-energy-drink-500-ml-12-uds-vitobest.html.

 

[DennisN]

One half to James Peebles "for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology", the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz "for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star."

Well deserved, I think. Exoplanets have been around for such a long time now that I've forgot when the first one(s) was/were discovered. I'd say, the first discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a star was an important step in astronomy/astrophysics. And I remember being deeply fascinated by it.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

https://www.nutricion24.com/en/dark-energy-drink-500-ml-12-uds-vitobest.html.

Only light energy drinks for me, I'll never join the dark side! :-D