Israel Science and Technology Directory

Jewish Nobel Prize winners in Physics

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YearNobel LaureateCountry of birth
2020Penrose, Roger
"for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity"
UK
2018Ashkin, Arthur
"for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics. for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems."
USA
2017Weiss, Rainer
"for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves"
Germany
2017Barish, Barry C.
"for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves"
USA
2016Kosterlitz, J. Michael
"for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter"
UK
2013Englert, Francois
"for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments"
Belgium
2012Haroche, Serge
"for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems"
Morocco
2011Perlmutter, Saul
"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae"
USA
2011Riess, Adam G.
"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae"
USA
2005Glauber, Roy J.
"for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence"
USA
2004Gross, David J.
"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"
USA
2004Politzer, H. David
"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"
USA
2003Ginzburg, Vitaly L.
"for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids"
Russia
2003Abrikosov, Alexei A.
"for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids"
Russia
2000Alferov, Zhores I.
"for basic work on information and communication technology"
Russia
1997Cohen-Tannoudji, Claude
"for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light"
Algeria
1996Lee, David M.
"for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3"
USA
1995Perl, Martin L.
"for the discovery of the tau lepton"
USA
1995Reines, Frederick
"for the detection of the neutrino"
USA
1992Charpak, Georges
"for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber"
Poland
1990Friedman, Jerome I.
"for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics"
USA
1988Steinberger, Jack
"for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino"
Germany
1988Schwartz, Melvin
"for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino"
USA
1988Lederman, Leon M.
"for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino"
USA
1987Muller, K. Alexander
"for their important breakthrough in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials"
Switzerland
1979Weinberg, Steven
"for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including inter alia the prediction of the weak neutral current"
USA
1979Glashow, Sheldon L.
"for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including inter alia the prediction of the weak neutral current"
USA
1978Penzias, Arno A.
"for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation"
Germany
1976Richter, Burton
"for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind"
USA
1975Mottelson, Ben Roy
"for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection"
USA
1973Josephson, Brian D.
"for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier, in particular those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects"
UK
1972Cooper, Leon N.
"for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory"
USA
1971Gabor, Dennis
"for his invention and development of the holographic method"
Hungary
1969Gell-Mann, Murray
"for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions"
USA
1967Bethe, Hans A.
"for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars"
Germany
1965Schwinger, Julian
"for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles"
USA
1965Feynman, Richard P.
"for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles"
USA
1963Wigner, Eugene P.
"for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles"
Hungary
1962Landau, Lev D.
"for his pioneering theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium"
Azerbaijan
1961Hofstadter, Robert
"for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons"
USA
1960Glaser, Donald A.
"for the invention of the bubble chamber"
USA
1959Segre, Emilio Gino
"for their discovery of the antiproton"
Italy
1958Frank, Il'ja M.
"for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect"
Russia
1958Tamm, Igor Y.
"for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect"
Russia
1954Born, Max
"for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction"
Germany
1952Bloch, Felix
"for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith"
Switzerland
1945Pauli, Wolfgang
"for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli Principle"
Austria
1944Rabi, Isidor Isaac
"for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei"
Austria
1943Stern, Otto
"for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton"
Germany
1925Franck, James
"for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom"
Germany
1922Bohr, Niels
"for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them"
Denmark
1921Einstein, Albert
"for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect"
Germany
1908Lippmann, Gabriel
"for his method of reproducing colors photographically based on the phenomenon of interference"
Luxembourg
1907Michelson, Albert A.
"for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid"
Poland

Total number of Jewish Laureates: 54