"宇宙膨胀加速论"提出者获宇宙学最高奖Gruber奖(图)

中文报道版：
http://www.sciencetimes.com.cn/htmlnews/2007718111435359184806.html?id=184806
2007年宇宙学最高奖项——Gruber奖于近日揭晓，提出“宇宙膨胀加速论”的两个国际科学家团队获得该奖项。他们分别是美国加州大学伯克利分校Saul Perlmutter领导的“超新星宇宙学计划”（Supernova Cosmology Project）团队和澳大利亚国立大学Brian Schmidt领导的“高红移超新星搜寻”（High-Z Supernova Search）团队。除获得奖章外，两个团队总共将得到50万美元的奖金。

通过研究遥远的超新星爆发，这两个竞争激烈的研究团队于1998年提出，宇宙的膨胀速度并非大多数人认为的越来越慢，而是在加速进行。他们的发现直接导致人们认识到，主宰宇宙的并非普通的物质和能量，而是一种未知的神秘力量——“暗能量”（Dark Energy），它与万有引力的作用恰好相反，促使宇宙空间不断延伸。现在科学家普遍认为，宇宙中95%以上的密度来源于暗能量和暗物质（Dark Matter）。

Gruber基金会强调了这两个研究团队之间的激烈竞争，它表示，“这两个团队并驾齐驱，互不相让，最终同时得到了相同的结论。”此外，两个团队利用新技术测量超新星爆发的精确距离也是他们获奖的重要原因。

Gruber宇宙学奖由一位爱好宇宙学的商人Peter Gruber在2000年设立，每年颁发一次。从2001年开始，该奖项由国际天文学联合会（IAU）和Gruber基金会共同资助。该奖项由一枚金质奖章和25万美元的奖金组成，主要奖励杰出的天文学家、宇宙学家、物理学家、数学家或者科学哲学家。

2006年的获奖者是John Mather及其领导的宇宙背景探测（Cosmic Background Explorer，简称COBE）团队。该团队以空前的精度测量了宇宙微波背景辐射能谱，所得到的结果表明能谱与黑体辐射谱完美吻合，因此证实了宇宙的大爆炸起源。（科学网 任霄鹏/编译）


英文原版：
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/29/full/

                               
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Four astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Md. are on two teams sharing the 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize for their discovery that the expanding universe is accelerating under a mysterious cosmic force called dark energy.
The astronomers are Andrew Fruchter, Ronald Gilliland, Nino Panagia, and Adam Riess. Riess is also Professor of Physics at Johns Hopkins University.
Gilliland and Riess are on the High-z Supernova Search Team led by Brian Schmidt of the Australian National University. Riess is the leader of the study for which his team is being honored.
"I am happy to see the High-z Team honored for this work. I think this discovery represents the end of the beginning for cosmology. The universe's constituents have now been plumbed, though their nature remains a mystery," said Riess.
Gilliland noted, "I was very fortunate a dozen years ago to have been invited to join the High-z collaboration to assist in transitioning the most demanding observations to the Hubble Space Telescope. It is immensely gratifying to see this award recognize the dedication and excellence of the High-z Supernova Search Team."
Fruchter and Panagia are on the Supernova Cosmology Project team led by Saul Perlmutter of the University of California at Berkeley.
"I am pleased and honored to be recognized as a member of one of the teams that made the amazing discovery that the universe appears to be accelerated. Personally, the main lesson I have learned from this discovery is that in science we better keep our eyes well open all the time because nature does not feel obliged to comply with our misconceptions, and often the unthinkable is the truth," said Panagia.
"I feel extremely fortunate to have been involved in this work. The two teams honored here have found one of the most surprising results in the history of science. The open question is whether the final explanation of our observations will be even more astonishing," said Fruchter.
The $500,000 prize will be shared: by Schmidt, Perlmutter, and their two teams, which included 51 co-authors between the two key discovery papers published (Riess et al. 1998, AJ, 116, 1009, and Perlmutter et al. 1999, ApJ, 517, 565).
The prize will be awarded at the University of Cambridge on September 7.
The two teams independently found that the universe is expanding at an ever faster rate. This means that an unknown form of energy in space, called dark energy, is overcoming the pull of gravity among galaxies to make the universe expand ever faster.
To be able to measure the universe's expansion rate, now and at various times in the distant past, they needed standardized light sources. These sources have to be very bright ones that would be visible to Earth-based telescopes despite being billions of light-years away and billions of years old.
The standard light sources they used were exploding stars called Type Ia supernovae. The researchers used the unique sensitivity of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to make precise measurements of these distant supernovae; a task that would have been impossible with only ground-based telescopes.
Remaining doubts that supernovae were providing an accurate history of the universe were greatly alleviated in 2004 when the Higher-z Team, a follow-up group to the High-z Team that is led by Riess, used the Hubble Space Telescope to extend the supernova measurements well into the period preceding the present acceleration.
The Cosmology Prize honors a leading cosmologist, astronomer, astrophysicist or scientific philosopher for theoretical, analytical or conceptual discoveries leading to fundamental advances in the field.
Since 2001, the Cosmology Prize has been awarded in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union. The Foundation's other international prizes are in Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice and Women's Rights. Nominations for the 2008 prizes are now open and close on December 31, 2007.
CONTACTFor additional information, contact:
Andrew Fruchter
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
410-338-5018; fruchter@stsci.edu
Ronald Gilliland
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
410-338-4366; gillil@stsci.edu
Nino Panagia
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
410-338-4916; panagia@stsci.edu
Adam Riess
Space Telescope Science Institute/Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
410-516-4474; ariess@stsci.edu

两个版本内容有很大出入，对真实详尽细节感兴趣的朋友建议阅读英文版。

[ 本帖最后由 worren 于 2007-7-19 00:21 编辑 ]