The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded with one half to Roger Penrose and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez.
Roger Penrose invented ingenious mathematical methods to explore Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. He showed that the theory leads to the formation of black holes, those monsters in time and space that capture everything that enters them.
Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez discovered that an invisible and extremely heavy object governs the orbits of stars at the centre of our galaxy. A supermassive black hole is the only currently known explanation.
Andrea Ghez is the fourth woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics after Donna Strickland, Maria Goeppert Mayer and Marie Curie.
Goran K. Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the recipients. The award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (more than $1.1 million).
On Monday, Harvey J. Alter, Charles M. Rice and Michael Houghton were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.
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