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Resources with Additional Information · Awards ![]() Photo Courtesy of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 'Saul Perlmutter, an astrophysicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley, has won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae.” '1 'Perlmutter … led the Supernova Cosmology Project that, in 1998, discovered that galaxies are receding from one another faster now than they were billions of years ago. He will share the prize with Adam G. Riess, 41, of The Johns Hopkins University and Brian Schmidt, 44, of Australian National University’s Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, two members of the competing High-Z Supernova Search team. When the discovery was made, Riess was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley working with astronomer Alex Filippenko, who at different times was a member of both teams.'2 'The accelerating expansion of the universe was discovered after years of work by the Supernova Cosmology Project, an international collaboration of researchers from the United States, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Chile, Japan, Spain, and other countries, based at Berkeley Lab. The Supernova Cosmology Project was cofounded by Perlmutter in 1988 to devise methods of using distant supernovae to measure the expansion rate of the universe. '1 'Perlmutter heads … [this] Project, which pioneered the methods used to discover the accelerating expansion of the universe, and he has been a leader in studies to determine the nature of dark energy.'1 'The accelerating expansion means that the universe could expand forever until, in the distant future, it is cold and dark. The teams’ discovery led to speculation that there is a “dark energy” that is pushing the universe apart. Though dark energy theoretically makes up 73 percent of the matter and energy of the universe, astronomers and physicists have so far failed to discover the nature of this strange, repulsive force. In recent years, Perlmutter has been working with NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build and launch the first space-based observatory designed specifically to understand the nature of dark energy. A dark-energy mission was named the top telescope-building priority in an August 2010 report from a blue-ribbon committee of the National Academy of Sciences.'2 1Edited excerpt from Saul Perlmutter Wins Nobel Prize in Physics
2Edited excerpt from Saul Perlmutter Awarded 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics Resources with Additional InformationAdditional information about Saul Perlmutter, distant supernovae, dark energy, and the accelerating expansion of the universe is available in electronic documents and on the Web. Documents:
Progress Report on the Berkeley/Anglo-Australian Observatory High-redshift Supernova Search, DOE Technical Report, 1990
Discovery of the Most Distant Supernovae and the Quest for {Omega}, DOE Technical Report, 1994 Discovery of a Supernova Explosion at Half the Age of the Universe and its Cosmological Implications, DOE Technical Report, 1997 The Distant Type Ia Supernova Rate, DOE Technical Report, 2002 The Supernova Legacy Survey: Measurement of Omega_M, Omega_Lambda, and w from the First Year Data Set, DOE Technical Report, 2005 Additional Web Pages:
Nobel Lecture, nobelprize.org (video)
Interview with Perlmutter, Riess, and Schmidt, nobelprize.org (video) Telephone Interview with Saul Perlmutter, nobelprize.org (audio) Secretary Chu Congratulates DOE-Supported Researcher on 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics Saul Perlmutter, UC-Berkeley Scientist, Wins 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics Saul Perlmutter: Research Interests, University of California Berkeley Supernovae, Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe (Discussion with Dr. Saul Perlmutter) Einstein's "Mistake" is Revived, American Physical Society (APS) Discover Interview Space Is Getting Bigger, and It's Getting Bigger Faster, Discover Magazine, February 22, 2010 The Dark Side of the Universe, Scientific American Frontiers Program #1405, PBS Scientist Discovers the Genuine Dark Side, physics@berkeley Autobiography of Professor Saul Perlmutter Dark Secrets: What Science Tells Us about the Hidden Universe (video) Awards:2002 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, LBNL announcement
2006 Shaw Prize 2006 International Antonio Feltrinelli Prize 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize 2009 Dickson Prize in Science, Carnegie Mellon University 2011 Einstein Medal
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