Newsletter:: 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

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Newsletter:

2020 Nobel Laureates Prove Einstein Right, Again

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Roger Penrose, Andrea Ghez, and Reinhard Genzel for their discoveries regarding black holes, validating Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Roger Penrose is emeritus professor at the Mathematical Institute of Oxford University. His seminal research, often working with Stephen Hawking, established much of the foundation of our understanding of black holes.

Andrea Ghez, Ph.D. Caltech, is a UCLA professor and Director of its its Galactic Center Group.

Reinhard Genzel is co-Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, and formerly a UC Berkley professor.

Ghez and Genzel proved a supermassive black hole, named Sag A*, lies at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Also this year, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) reported precise measurements of a star named S2 orbiting Sag A*, the fruit of observations spanning 27 years. They found S2’s orbit precesses precisely matching the predictions of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

This artist’s sketch illustrates how Einstein’s theory of gravity differs from Newton’s. Newton said the orbits of smaller bodies around much large bodies are ellipses (shown in red); the smaller bodies go round and round, but the ellipse never changes. Einstein said the ellipse precesses (shown in blue), slowly turning around the larger body.

ESA says S2’s precession is 104% ± 5% of what general relativity predicts — Einstein was right again.

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Best Regards,

Robert

December 2020
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