Saturday, 08 October 2011 20:12

Written by Navid Iqbal

Adam Riess, Saul Perlmutter & Brian Schmidt received the 2011 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the evidence for acceleration of the expansion of Universe through observing distant supernova. It is also very amusing as these three astrophysicists shared the Shaw prize in astronomy in 2006.

Previously it was assumed by scientists that the expansion of the Universe after Big Bang would eventually slow down due the effect of gravitational energy of galaxies. This would mean when time passes by we should see that galaxies are slowing down and eventually start moving towards each other under the influence of gravitation and collapse together. This event is termed as the “Big Crunch”.

However, the research of Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess shows otherwise. While working as a head for 'Supernova cosmology project' Mr. Perlmutter found evidence that not only galaxies in the Universe are expanding, their rate of expansion is increasing. In other words, galaxies are accelerating away form each other. When another team 'High-z supernova search team', which was led by Schmidt and Riess gave the same conclusion, scientists became certain that the universe is indeed accelerating away from each other. As two team simultaneously achieved the research conclusion, the prize money was given half to Saul Perlmutter, the head of 'Supernova cosmology project', and the rest half of the prize money was given to Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess, the head of 'High-z supernova search team'.

Short biography:

Saul Perlmutter:

Saul Perlmutter an American astrophysicist. He currently works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Perlmutter graduated in physics from Harvard in 1981 & went on to finish his PhD in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley in the year 1986. Perlmutter currently teaches at UC Berkeley.

Brian Schmidt:

Brian Schmidt is a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the Australian National University. Schmidt graduated from Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska in 1985. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Physics & also in Astronomy from the University of Arizona in the year 1989. He completed his MA in the year 1992 & then went on to get his PhD from the Harvard University in the year 1993. Schmidt is currently leading the SkyMapper telescope Project.

Adam Riess:

Adam Riess is an American astrophysicist. He works at the  Johns Hopkins University & the Space Telescope Science Institute. He graduated from MIT in 1992. He completed his PhD from the Harvard University in the year 1996. Adam Riess took up his present position at the Johns Hopkins University in the year 2005.