Compact objects and Black Holes: Nobel Prize for Physics 2020

TL;DR

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized key discoveries about black holes and supermassive compact objects, confirming their theoretical prediction and observational evidence within astrophysics.

Contribution

This paper highlights the Nobel-winning discoveries that established black holes as a fundamental aspect of general relativity and identified supermassive objects at galactic centers.

Findings

Black hole formation is a robust prediction of general relativity.

Existence of a supermassive compact object at the galaxy's center confirmed.

Historical context of black hole research provided.

Abstract

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 has been divided, one half awarded to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity. and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy. Here we describe their work and put it in historical context and discuss specific advances that have been rewarded.