The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to research in the field of black holes

Stockholm, October 6 (TASR) – British scientist Roger Penrose, German astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel and American astronomer Andrea Ghez have won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on black holes. The AFP agency has informed.

The names of this year’s winners were announced Tuesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. According to the academy, Penrose received the award for his discovery of the connection between black holes and the general theory of relativity, the AP agency reported. Genzel and Ghez were honored for discovering huge compact objects in the center of our galaxy.

The three scientists will share a financial reward of ten million Swedish kronor (approximately € 959,000).
Last year, James Peebles of Princeton University (USA) won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in physical cosmology, as did Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz of the University of Geneva (Switzerland) for discovering an exoplanet in orbit around a star similar to our Sun.

The Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice and the British Michael Houghton won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research on the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.

On Wednesday they will announce the awards for chemistry, Thursday for literature, Friday for peace and Monday the awards for economics.

This year’s winners will not personally receive awards in Stockholm during the traditional awards ceremony on 10 December. They will receive them in their home countries through competent embassies or universities.

The Nobel Foundation, which organizes the Nobel Prizes, announced in September that the traditional awards ceremony will not take place this year due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. The event in the Stockholm Concert Hall will be replaced by a television broadcast from the Swedish city hall.

Based on the last wishes and funds of prominent Swedish industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel (1833-96), the prestigious Nobel Prize for a significant discovery, act or work has been awarded annually since 1901. This tribute to artists, scientists , economists and peacemakers is widely regarded as the most valuable prize in the world.