202 1 Nobel Prize in Physics released! First awarded to climate physicists

At about 5: 50pm Beijing time1October 5th, the Scientific Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy decided to award the 20021Nobel Prize in Physics to Japanese scientist Syukuro Manabe, German scientist Hasselman and Italian scientist parisi in recognition of their "pioneering contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems".

The Nobel Prize of 202 1 was 6.5438+million Swedish kronor (about 7.36 million RMB).

List of Nobel Prize winners in physics in the past six years

In 2020, half of the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to roger penrose in recognition of his proof of the formation of black holes, which became strong evidence of general relativity. The other half is enjoyed by Reinhard Genzel and andrea Ghez in recognition of their discovery of ultra-high quality and high density substances in the center of the Milky Way.

In 20 19, James Peebles, a professor at Princeton University in the United States, Michel Mayor, a professor at Geneva University in Switzerland, and Didier Queloz, a professor at Geneva University, won prizes for "their discoveries in astrophysics".

In 20 18, American scientist Arthur Ashkin, French scientist Gerard Mulu and Canadian scientist Donna strickland won the "Breakthrough Invention in the Field of Laser Physics" award.

In 20 17, three American scientists, Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry barish, won prizes for their "decisive contributions to LIGO detector and gravitational wave observation".

In 20 16, three British and American scientists, David Solis, Duncan Haldane and michael kosterlitz, won prizes for "discovering topological phase transition and topological phase substances in theory".

A little knowledge about the Nobel Prize in Physics

As one of the five prizes established according to the Nobel will, the physics prize is awarded to "the person who made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics". Compared with other Nobel Prizes, the process of recommending and selecting physics prizes is longer and more detailed. The rules of the Nobel Prize in Physics stipulate that the winner's contribution must "stand the test of time". This means that the Nobel Committee often awards prizes for scientific discoveries decades later. Since the establishment of 190 1, the Nobel Prize in Physics has gone through a hundred years, recording countless milestones in the history of physics development and becoming an inseparable part of human civilization.

According to the regulations, a Nobel Prize can only be awarded to two different achievements at most, and the prize money will be divided equally. And if an achievement is completed by two or three people together, then the bonus will be awarded to them together. The bonus can be shared by up to 3 people.

From 190 1 to 2020, the Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded 1 14 times, of which 19 16, 193 1. As the organizing Committee said: "If the candidate's contribution does not meet the requirements, then the bonus will be retained until the second year. If there is still no suitable candidate in the second year, then the bonus will be returned to the initial fund of the foundation. " In addition, during the two world wars, Nobel Prizes were rarely awarded.

As the saying goes, be famous before it is too late. So far, the youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics is lawrence bragg. 19 15 years. At the age of 25, he won the Nobel Prize in physics with his father henry bragg for his contribution to studying the atomic and molecular structures in crystals with X-rays.

So far, the oldest winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics is arthur ashe King, who was 96 years old when he won the Nobel Prize in 20 18. The reason for winning the prize is "a breakthrough invention in the field of laser physics".

In the history of the Nobel Prize, john bardeen, an American physicist, won two Nobel Prizes in physics. 1956 john bardeen won the nobel prize in physics for his research on semiconductor and transistor effects. 1972, he won the nobel prize in physics again for his ultra-low temperature theory.

Complex systems are characterized by randomness and disorder, which are difficult to understand. This year's awards recognize new ways to describe them and predict their long-term behavior.

The earth's climate is a complex system that is vital to human beings. Shuro Makoto shows how the increase of carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere leads to the increase of the earth's surface temperature. In the 1960 s, he led the development of the physical model of the earth's climate and was the first person to explore the interaction between radiation balance and vertical transport of air mass. His work laid the foundation for the development of current climate models.

About ten years later, Klaus Hasselman created a model linking weather and climate, thus answering the question of why the climate model is still reliable under changeable and chaotic weather. He also developed methods to identify specific signals and fingerprints. Both natural phenomena and human activities have left traces on the climate. His method has been used to prove that the increase of atmospheric temperature is due to carbon dioxide emitted by human beings.

Around 1980, George parisi discovered hidden patterns in disordered and complicated materials. His discovery is one of the most important contributions to the theory of complex systems. They make it possible to understand and describe many different and apparently completely random materials and phenomena, not only in the field of physics, but also in other very different fields, such as mathematics, biology, neuroscience and machine learning.

"The findings recognized this year show that our understanding of climate is based on a solid scientific foundation and a rigorous analysis of observation results. This year's winners have contributed to our deeper understanding of the characteristics and evolution of complex physical systems. " Toles Hans Hansen, chairman of the Nobel Physics Committee, said.

Looking for the simplest scientific laws for the complex world

It is not surprising that George parisi won the Nobel Prize. In fact, scientists' academic homepages have been cited more than 90,000 times. Prior to this, he won the physics prize of almost all scientific awards except the Nobel Prize. "parisi is a very influential theoretical physicist. He conducts research through statistical physics and complex system methods," explained Professor Zhang from the Institute of Natural Sciences and the School of Physics and Astronomy of Shanghai Jiaotong University. "Generally speaking, the atoms in a crystal are arranged in a periodic structure, but many complex systems have no spatial order in this crystal and are in a thermodynamic non-equilibrium state with strong randomness, which makes it difficult for some traditional physical research methods to work in complex systems, but parisi has developed many methods to study disordered and random complex systems."

This year, parisi also won the Wolf Prize. The award speech commented: "His work has great influence on different branches of physics, including particle physics, critical phenomena, chaotic systems, optimization theory and mathematical physics." Zhang believes that the research progress of complex systems needs the integration and intersection of multiple disciplines; With the development of big data and computing power, this field will also usher in rapid progress, helping scientists explore new research paradigms to better explore the real world.

It is worth noting that parisi's research is very interesting, and some of them are beyond the scope of traditional physics research, such as irregular boundaries and harmonious birds after burning paper. "These questions, which originated from biology and materials science, have not yet been fully answered. Physicists actively participate in these cross-studies, trying to find the simplest and most common models and mechanisms of complex problems to help human beings better understand the world, "Zhang said. At present, China's scientific research team is also working hard in these fields.

The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year, with a six-year suspension (19 16, 193 1 934, 1940- 1942). By 2020, the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded 1 14 times and won by 2 15 people. John bardeen, an American physicist, was the only scientist who won two prizes, 1956 and 1972, for his transistor effect and superconducting BCS theory.

Half of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics will be won by roger penrose, and the other half will be won by reinhard Genser and Andrei Gotz. Three scientists won prizes for discovering supermassive compact objects in the center of the Milky Way. The barista also learned from the World Top Scientists Forum (WLF) that reinhard Gensel had been invited to attend the 4th World Top Scientists Forum held in1early October at 165438+ and share his research on black holes in the master lecture hall.

The data shows that the Nobel Prize in Physics was only awarded to 1 person, which appeared 47 times; Awarded to two people, * * * appeared 32 times; Granted to three people, it appeared 35 times. In recent years, the frequency of two or three people winning prizes has greatly increased. The physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics last time can be traced back to georges charpak who won the prize in 1992.

So far, the youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics is william lawrence bragg, who won the prize at the age of 25. 19 15 years, he and his father William Henry Bragg won the prize at the same time; In 2065438+2008, Arthur Askin won the prize at the age of 96, the oldest winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Statistics show that among the Nobel Prize winners in physics, only 1 person is 20-29 years old. There are 23 people aged 30-39; The number of winners aged 40-49 is the highest, reaching 55; 50-59 years old is also the "peak period" for winning the Nobel Prize in Physics, with 52 people; There are 43 people aged 60-69; There are 26 people aged 70-79; There are 15 winners aged 80-89; The number of people aged 90-99 is only 1.

In history, four women have won the Nobel Prize in physics, namely Marie Curie, the well-known "Madame Curie", Maria Geppert Meyer, a German-American physicist, Donna strickland, winner of 20 18, and Andrea Gotz, winner of last year. Among them, Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice. 1903, the curies and becquerel won the Nobel Prize in physics for their research on radioactivity. 19 1 1 year, Madame Curie won the Nobel Prize in chemistry again for her discovery of polonium and radium, becoming the first person in the world to win two Nobel Prizes.

Some scholars said that compared with other natural science awards, the regularity of the Nobel Prize in Physics is more obvious: the four fields of cosmic astrophysics, particle physics, atomic and molecular photophysics and condensed matter physics appear in turn. However, in recent years, astrophysics has been staged frequently-2065438+05 is the award-winning achievement of particle physics;