The Doppler effect and its Nobel Prize Winners

Through his discovery of dynamite and the patent granted him (1867), Swedish inventor and chemist Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) quickly built up a considerable fortune. In his will and testament he stated that his fortune should be used to “create a fund, the yearly interest on which should be distributed as a prize to those who have contributed the most to humanity in the past year” (since 1901 called the Nobel Prize). The sum was to be divided equally into five for prizes in the following areas: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.

At the time, no one knew the extent of the impact Doppler’s discovery would have on the development of some of these scientific areas. Currently, 24 Nobel Prizes have been awarded for achievements in medicine, technology, and natural sciences which would not have been possible without the use of the Doppler effect.

Study of black holes and the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy
Study of black holes and the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy

Roger Penrose (* 1931, University of Oxford, UK) Rationale for the award: “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity”” Andrea Ghez (* 1965, University of California, Los Angeles, USA) und Reinhard Genzel (* 1952, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics,

Discovery of the first exoplanet (Mayor & Queloz) and theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology (Peebles)
Nobelpreisträger Mayor und Queloz

Michel Mayor (* 1942, Schweiz), Didier Queloz (* 1966, Schweiz) Rationale for the award: “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” Image (left): European Southern Observatory, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-2.0), CC BY-SA 2.0, Link Image (right): M.McCaughrean (ESA)/ESO, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-4.0), CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae
Discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae

Saul Perlmutter (1959 – , USA), Brian P. Schmidt (1967 – , USA) und Adam Riess (1969 – , USA) Rationale for the award: “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.” Image: Saul Perlmutter by Holger Motzkau, Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons (cc-by-sa-3.0), CC BY-SA

Research on cosmic background radiation
ジョン・クロムウェル・マザー (1946年 – アメリカ)とジョージ・スムート(1945年 – アメリカ)

John Cromwell Mather (1946 – , USA) and George Smoot (1945 – , USA) Rationale for the award: “for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.” Image: George Smoot by Nomo michael hoefner http://www.zwo5.de – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

Contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique
2005年 光周波数コム技術を含むレーザーベースの精密分光法の開発への貢献

John Lewis Hall (1934 – , USA) and Theodor Hänsch (1941 – , Germany) Rationale for the award: “for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique.“ Image: Theodor Hänsch | Authorship not indicated in a machine readable format. Blinking Spirit is assumed

For the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates
アルカリ原子の希薄ガス中のボーズ・アインシュタイン凝縮の実現、および凝縮物の特性に関する初期基礎的研究

Eric Allin Cornell (1961 – , USA), Wolfgang Ketterle (1957 – , Germany) and Carl Edwin Wieman (1951 – , Germany) Rationale for the award: “for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.” Image: Eric

Development of methods to cool and trap atoms with the help of lasers
レーザーを用いて原子を冷却し、トラップする方法の開発

Steven Chu (1948 – , USA), Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (1933 – , France, born in Algeria) und William Daniel Phillips (1948 – , USA) Rationale for the award: “for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.” Image: Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (2007) by Amir Bernat – I phtographed., GFDL,

Development of the Ion Trap Technique

Wolfgang Paul (1913–1993, Germany) and Hans Georg Dehmelt (1922-2017, USA – born in Germany) Rationale for the award: “for their development of the ion trap technique”

Contribution to the development of laser-spectroscopy
ニコラアス・ブルームベルゲン

Nicolaas Bloembergen (1920-2017, USA, born in the Netherlands) and Arthur Leonard Schawlow (1921–1999, USA) Rationale for award: “for their contributions to the development of Laser-spectroscopy”

Research into the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma radiation – the Mössbauer effect.
ルドルフ・L・メスバウアー

Rudolf L. Mößbauer (1929 – 2011, Germany) Rationale for the award: “for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name” Born in Munich, and at the age of 32, the youngest Nobel Prize winner at the

Proof of the Doppler effect through canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields
ヨハネス・シュタルク

Johannes Stark (1874–1957, Germany) Rationale for the award: “for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields” (Stark-effect) The German physicist discovered the optical Doppler effect in canal rays in 1905. He could prove experimentally Doppler’s hypothesis that the movement