Stockholm (AFP)
Before them Marie Curie, Albert Einstein or Niels Bohr have inscribed their names on the prize list: the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday distinguished three eminent cosmologists, the Canadian-American James Peebles and the Swiss Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz.
The prize goes half to James Peebles for his "theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology" and the other half jointly with Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz for their "discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star", announced Göran Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The three researchers, astrophysicists and astronomers, contributed to "a new understanding of the structure and history of the universe". "Their work has forever changed our conceptions of the world," the academy added.
James Peebles is interested in the cosmos, with its billions of galaxies and groups of galaxies. Its theoretical framework, developed over two decades, delves into the genesis of the universe, from the Big Bang to the present day.
Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz explored our galaxy, the Milky Way, in search of unknown worlds. In 1995, they made the first discovery of a planet outside our solar system: an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star, 51 Pegasi b.
In a statement issued by the University of Geneva, they recalled their "excitement" when they made this discovery. "That she is awarded a Nobel Prize is simply amazing," they added.
They will receive their prize from the hands of the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, at a lavish ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and creator of the awards.
The Nobel Prize in Physics last year rewarded a trio of researchers whose studies on lasers produced high-precision instruments used in industry and medicine.
Explorers of the infinitely small and celestial confines, the American Arthur Ashkin, doyen of the Nobel laureates at 96, the French Gérard Mourou and the Canadian Donna Strickland have developed beams capable of capturing cells, repairing an eye or, eventually, to disintegrate space waste.
After Marie Curie (1903) and German-American Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963), Donna Strickland was the only third woman to be honored by the Nobel Prize for Physics since 1901.
- American domination -
On Monday, the medical award confirmed the overwhelming dominance of Americans in the Nobel prize list of scientific disiplines by defeating William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza, as well as Britain's Peter Ratcliffe, authors of discoveries on the adaptation of cells to lack of oxygen. , which opens up promising prospects in the treatment of cancer and anemia.
Wednesday will see the chemistry and literature prize on Thursday, which will see two winners, one for 2018, the other for 2019, after the Swedish Academy, who awarded it, postponed the award last year for cause. scandal of sexual assault.
The Nobel Prize for Saving Money, created in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden on the occasion of its tercentenary, will mark the season of awards given by Swedish institutions.
Meanwhile in Oslo, Friday, October 11, will be awarded the prestigious prize of peace by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The laureates receive a check of 9 million crowns (830,000 euros), to be shared if necessary between recipients of the same prize, as well as a medal and a diploma.
© 2019 AFP