The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is one of the Breakthrough Prizes, awarded by the Breakthrough Prize Board. Initially named Fundamental Physics Prize,[1] it was founded in July 2012 by Russia-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist Yuri Milner. The prize is awarded to physicists from theoretical, mathematical, or experimental physics that have made transformative contributions to fundamental physics,[2] and specifically for recent advances.[3]
| Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Accomplishments in fundamental physics broadly defined |
| Presented by | Breakthrough Prize Board |
| Reward(s) | USD$3 million |
| First awarded | 2012 |
| Website | Official Website |
Worth USD$3 million, the prize is the most lucrative physics prize in the world[4][5] and is more than twice the amount given to the Nobel Prize awardees.[6]
Unlike the annual Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Special Breakthrough Prize is not limited to recent discoveries, while the prize money is still USD$3 million.[7]
Physics Frontiers Prize has only been awarded for 2 years. Laureates are automatically nominated for next year's Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. If they are not awarded the prize the next year, they will each receive USD$300,000 and be automatically nominated for the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in the next 5 years.[8]
Laureates
The following is a listing of the laureates, by year (including Special Prize winners).
New Horizons in Physics Prize
The New Horizons in Physics Prize, awarded to promising junior researchers, carries an award of $100,000.[24]
| Year of award | New Horizons in Physics Prize laureates | Awarded for | Institutional affiliation when prize awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Niklas Beisert | Development of powerful exact methods to describe a quantum gauge theory and its associated string theory | ETH Zurich |
| Davide Gaiotto | Far-reaching new insights about duality, gauge theory, and geometry, and specially for his work linking theories in different dimensions in most unexpected ways | Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics | |
| Zohar Komargodski[25] | Dynamics of four-dimensional field theories and in particular his proof (with Schwimmer) of the “a-theorem”, which has solved a long-standing problem | Weizmann Institute of Science | |
| 2014 | Freddy Cachazo | Uncovering numerous structures underlying scattering amplitudes in gauge theories and gravity | Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics |
| Shiraz Minwalla | Pioneering contributions to the study of string theory and quantum field theory; and in particular his work on the connection between the equations of fluid dynamics and Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research | |
| Slava Rychkov | Developing new techniques in conformal field theory, reviving the conformal bootstrap program for constraining the spectrum of operators and the structure constants in 3D and 4D CFT's | Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University | |
| 2015 | Sean Hartnoll | For applying holographic methods to obtain remarkable new insights into strongly interacting quantum matter. | Stanford University |
| Philip C. Schuster and Natalia Toro | For pioneering the “simplified models” framework for new physics searches at the Large Hadron Collider, as well as spearheading new experimental searches for dark sectors using high-intensity electron beams. | Perimeter Institute | |
| Horacio Casini | For fundamental ideas about entropy in quantum field theory and quantum gravity. | CONICET | |
| Marina Huerta | Universidad Nacional de Cuyo | ||
| Shinsei Ryu | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | ||
| Tadashi Takayanagi | Kyoto University | ||
| 2016 | B. Andrei Bernevig | For outstanding contributions to condensed matter physics, especially involving the use of topology to understand new states of matter. | Princeton University |
| Xiao-Liang Qi | Stanford University | ||
| Raphael Flauger | For outstanding contributions to theoretical cosmology. | The University of Texas at Austin | |
| Leonardo Senatore | Stanford University | ||
| Liang Fu | For outstanding contributions to condensed matter physics, especially involving the use of topology to understand new states of matter. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Yuji Tachikawa | For penetrating and incisive studies of supersymmetric quantum field theories. | University of Tokyo | |
| 2017 | Frans Pretorius | For creating the first computer code capable of simulating the inspiral and merger of binary black holes, thereby laying crucial foundations for interpreting the recent observations of gravitational waves; and for opening new directions in numerical relativity. | Princeton University |
| Simone Giombi | For imaginative joint work on higher spin gravity and its holographic connection to a new soluble field theory. | Princeton University | |
| Xi Yin | Harvard University | ||
| Asimina Arvanitaki | For pioneering a wide range of new experimental probes of fundamental physics. | Perimeter Institute | |
| Peter W. Graham | Stanford University | ||
| Surjeet Rajendran | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| 2018 | Christopher Hirata | For fundamental contributions to understanding the physics of early galaxy formation and to sharpening and applying the most powerful tools of precision cosmology | Ohio State University |
| Douglas Stanford | For profound new insights on quantum chaos and its relation to gravity. | Institute for Advanced Study and Stanford University | |
| Andrea Young | For the co-invention of van der Waals heterostructures, and for the new quantum Hall phases that he discovered with them. | University of California, Santa Barbara | |
| 2019 | Rana Adhikari | For research on present and future ground-based detectors of gravitational waves. | California Institute of Technology |
| Lisa Barsotti and Matthew Evans | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
| Daniel Harlow | For fundamental insights about quantum information, quantum field theory, and gravity. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Daniel L. Jafferis | Harvard University | ||
| Aron Wall | Stanford University | ||
| Brian Metzger | For pioneering predictions of the electromagnetic signal from a neutron star merger, and for leadership in the emerging field of multi-messenger astronomy. | Columbia University | |
| 2020 | Xie Chen | For incisive contributions to the understanding of topological states of matter and the relationships between them. | California Institute of Technology |
| Lukasz Fidkowski | University of Washington | ||
| Michael Levin | University of Chicago | ||
| Max A. Metlitski | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
| Jo Dunkley | For the development of novel techniques to extract fundamental physics from astronomical data. | Princeton University | |
| Samaya Nissanke | University of Amsterdam | ||
| Kendrick Smith | Perimeter Institute | ||
| Simon Caron-Huot | For profound contributions to the understanding of quantum field theory. | McGill University | |
| Pedro Vieira | Perimeter Institute and ICTP-SAIFR | ||
| 2021 | Tracy Slatyer | For major contributions to particle astrophysics, from models of dark matter to the discovery of the “Fermi Bubbles.” | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Rouven Essig | For advances in the detection of sub-GeV dark matter especially in regards to the SENSEI experiment. | Stony Brook University | |
| Javier Tiffenberg | Fermilab | ||
| Tomer Volansky | Tel Aviv University | ||
| Tien-Tien Yu | University of Oregon | ||
| Ahmed Almheiri | For calculating the quantum information content of a black hole and its radiation. | Institute for Advanced Study | |
| Netta Engelhardt | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
| Henry Maxfield | University of California, Santa Barbara | ||
| Geoff Penington | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| 2022[21] | Suchitra Sebastian | For high precision electronic and magnetic measurements that have profoundly changed our understanding of high temperature superconductors and unconventional insulators. | University of Cambridge |
| Alessandra Corsi | For leadership in laying foundations for electromagnetic observations of sources of gravitational waves, and leadership in extracting rich information from the first observed collision of two neutron stars. | Texas Tech University | |
| Gregg Hallinan | California Institute of Technology | ||
| Mansi Manoj Kasliwal | California Institute of Technology | ||
| Raffaella Margutti | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| Dominic Else | For pioneering theoretical work formulating novel phases of non-equilibrium quantum matter, including time crystals. | Harvard University | |
| Vedika Khemani | Stanford University | ||
| Haruki Watanabe | University of Tokyo | ||
| Norman Y. Yao | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| 2023[22] | David Simmons-Duffin | For the development of analytical and numerical techniques to study conformal field theories, including the ones describing the liquid vapor critical point and the superfluid phase transition. | California Institute of Technology |
| Anna Grassellino | For the discovery of major performance enhancements to niobium superconducting radio-frequency cavities, with applications ranging from accelerator physics to quantum devices. | Fermilab | |
| Hannes Bernien | For the development of optical tweezer arrays to realize control of individual atoms for applications in quantum information science, metrology, and molecular physics. | University of Chicago | |
| Manuel Endres | California Institute of Technology | ||
| Adam M. Kaufman | JILA | ||
| Kang-Kuen Ni | Harvard University | ||
| Hannes Pichler | University of Innsbruck Austrian Academy of Sciences | ||
| Jeff Thompson | Princeton University | ||
| 2024[23] | Michael Johnson | For elucidating the sub-structure and universal characteristics of black hole photon rings, and their proposed detection by next-generation interferometric experiments. | Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics |
| Alexandru Lupsasca | Vanderbilt University | ||
| Mikhail Ivanov | For contributions to our understanding of the large-scale structure of the universe and the development of new tools to extract fundamental physics from galaxy surveys. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Oliver Philcox | Columbia University and Simons Foundation | ||
| Marko Simonović | University of Florence | ||
| Laura M. Pérez | For the prediction, discovery, and modeling of dust traps in young circumstellar disks, solving a long-standing problem in planet formation. | University of Chile | |
| Paola Pinilla | University College London | ||
| Nienke van der Marel | Leiden Observatory | ||
| Til Birnstiel | Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
Trophy
The Fundamental Physics Prize trophy, a work of art created by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson,[26] is a silver sphere with a coiled vortex inside. The form is a toroid, or doughnut shape, resulting from two sets of intertwining three-dimensional spirals. Found in nature, these spirals are seen in animal horns, nautilus shells, whirlpools, and even galaxies and black holes.[27]
Ceremony
The name of the 2013 prize winner was unveiled at the culmination of a ceremony which took place on the evening of March 20, 2013 at the Geneva International Conference Centre.[28] The ceremony was hosted by Hollywood actor and science enthusiast Morgan Freeman.[29] The evening honored the 2013 laureates − 16 outstanding scientists including Stephen Hawking[30] and CERN scientists who led the decades-long effort to discover the Higgs-like particle at the Large Hadron Collider.[31] Sarah Brightman and Russian pianist Denis Matsuev performed for the guests of the ceremony.
Criticism
Some have expressed reservations about such new science mega-prizes.[32]
What's not to like? Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists... You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels. The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behind them, say scientists. They could distort the meritocracy of peer-review-led research. They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research. They do not fund peer-reviewed research. They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius....As much as some scientists may grumble about the new awards, the financial doping that they bring to research and the wisdom of the goals behind them, two things seem clear. First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one. Second, it is surely a good thing that the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere. It is fair to criticize and question the mechanism—that is the culture of research, after all—but it is the prize-givers' money to do with as they please. It is wise to accept such gifts with gratitude and grace.[33]