Colonel William A. Phillips

Front side (obverse) of the Nobel Prize Medal for Physics presented to Edward Victor Appleton in 1947

The Nobel Prize in Physics (Swedish: Nobelpriset i fysik) is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel (who died in 1896), awarded for outstanding contributions in physics.[1] As dictated by Nobel's will, the award is administered by the Nobel Foundation and awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[2] The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.[3] Each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award prize that has varied throughout the years.[4]

Statistics

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to 224 individuals as of 2023.[5] The first prize in physics was awarded in 1901 to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, of Germany, who received 150,782 SEK. John Bardeen is the only laureate to win the prize twice—in 1956 and 1972.

William Lawrence Bragg was the youngest Nobel laureate in physics; he won the prize in 1915 at the age of 25. He was also the youngest laureate for any Nobel prize until 2014 (when Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17).[6] The oldest Nobel Prize laureate in physics was Arthur Ashkin who was 96 years old when he was awarded the prize in 2018.[7]

Only five women have won the prize: Marie Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1963), Donna Strickland (2018), Andrea Ghez (2020), and Anne L'Huillier (2023).[8] Before L'Huillier, each woman only ever received a quarter share of the prize, although Marie Curie did receive an unshared Nobel prize in chemistry in 1911. In 2023 L'Huillier received a one-third share.

There have been six years for which the Nobel Prize in Physics was not awarded (1916, 1931, 1934, 1940–1942). There were also nine years for which the Nobel Prize in Physics was delayed for one year:

Ioannidis et al. reported that half of the Nobel Prize for science awarded between 1995 and 2017 are clustered in few disciplines. Particle physics (14%), atomic physics (10.9%), and 3 non-physics disciplines are dominating the prize in recent decades. And then semiconductor physics and magnetics are the next most honoured physics disciplines.[18]

Laureates

Year Image Laureate[A] Country[B] Rationale[C] Ref
1901 Wilhelm Röntgen (1845–1923)  German Empire "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable rays subsequently named after him" [19]
1902 Hendrik Lorentz (1853–1928)  Netherlands "in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena" [20]
Pieter Zeeman (1865–1943)
1903 Henri Becquerel (1852–1908)  France "for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity" [21]
Pierre Curie (1859–1906) "for their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel" [21]
Marie Curie (1867–1934)  Poland
( Russian Empire)
 France
1904 Lord Rayleigh (1842–1919)  United Kingdom "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies" [22]
1905 Philipp Lenard (1862–1947)  German Empire "for his work on cathode rays" [23]
1906 J. J. Thomson (1856–1940)  United Kingdom "for his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases" [24]
1907 Albert A. Michelson (1852–1931)  United States "for his optical precision instruments and the spectroscopic and metrological investigations carried out with their aid" [25]
1908 Gabriel Lippmann (1845–1921)  France "for his method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference" [26]
1909 Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937)  Kingdom of Italy "for their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy" [27]
Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918)  German Empire
1910 Johannes Diderik van der Waals (1837–1923)  Netherlands "for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids" [28]
1911 Wilhelm Wien (1864–1928)  German Empire "for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat" [29]
1912 Gustaf Dalén (1869–1937)  Sweden "for his invention of automatic valves designed to be used in combination with gas accumulators in lighthouses and buoys" [30]
1913 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926)  Netherlands "for his investigations on the properties of matter at low temperatures which led, inter alia, to the production of liquid helium" [31]
1914 Max von Laue (1879–1960)  German Empire "For his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals", an important step in the development of X-ray spectroscopy. [9]
1915 William Henry Bragg (1862–1942)  United Kingdom "'For their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays', an important step in the development of X-ray crystallography" [32]
Lawrence Bragg (1890–1971)  United Kingdom
1916 Not awarded due to World War I
1917 Charles Glover Barkla (1877–1944)  United Kingdom "'For his discovery of the characteristic Röntgen radiation of the elements', another important step in the development of X-ray spectroscopy" [10]
1918 Max Planck (1858–1947)  German Empire "for the services he rendered to the advancement of physics by his discovery of energy quanta" [11]
1919 Johannes Stark (1874–1957)  Germany "for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields" [33]
1920 Charles Édouard Guillaume (1861–1938)   Switzerland "for the service he has rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel-steel alloys" [34]
1921 Albert Einstein (1879–1955)  Germany
  Switzerland
"for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect" [12]
1922 Niels Bohr (1885–1962)  Denmark "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them" [35]
1923 Robert Andrews Millikan (1868–1953)  United States "for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and on the photoelectric effect" [36]
1924 Manne Siegbahn (1886–1978)  Sweden "for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy" [13]
1925 James Franck (1882–1964)  Germany "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom" [14]
Gustav Hertz (1887–1975)
1926 Jean Baptiste Perrin (1870–1942)  France "for his work on the discontinuous structure of matter, and especially for his discovery of sedimentation equilibrium" [37]
1927 Arthur Compton (1892–1962)  United States "for his discovery of the effect named after him" [38]
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869–1959)  United Kingdom "for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour" [38]
1928 Owen Willans Richardson (1879–1959)  United Kingdom "for his work on the thermionic phenomenon and especially for the discovery of the law named after him" [15]
1929 Louis Victor Pierre Raymond, 7th Duc de Broglie (1892–1987)  France "for his discovery of the wave nature of electrons" [39]
1930 C. V. Raman (1888–1970)  India "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him" [40]
1931 Not awarded
1932 Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976)  Germany "for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen" [16]
1933 Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961)  Austria "for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory" [41]
Paul Dirac (1902–1984)  United Kingdom
1934 Not awarded
1935 James Chadwick (1891–1974)  United Kingdom "for the discovery of the neutron" [42]
1936 Victor Francis Hess (1883–1964)  Austria "for his discovery of cosmic radiation" [43]
Carl David Anderson (1905–1991)  United States "for his discovery of the positron" [43]
1937 Clinton Davisson (1881–1958)  United States "for their experimental discovery of the diffraction of electrons by crystals" [44]
George Paget Thomson (1892–1975)  United Kingdom
1938 Enrico Fermi (1901–1954)  Kingdom of Italy "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons" [45]
1939 Ernest Lawrence (1901–1958)  United States "for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements" [46]
1940 Not awarded due to World War II
1941 Not awarded due to World War II
1942 Not awarded due to World War II
1943 Otto Stern (1888–1969)  United States "for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton" [17][47]
1944 Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898–1988)  United States "for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei" [48]
1945 Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958)  Austria "for the discovery of the Exclusion Principle, also called the Pauli principle" [49]
1946 Percy Williams Bridgman (1882–1961)  United States "for the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made there within the field of high pressure physics" [50]
1947 Edward Victor Appleton (1892–1965)  United Kingdom "for his investigations of the physics of the upper atmosphere especially for the discovery of the so-called Appleton layer" [51]
1948 Patrick Blackett (1897–1974)  United Kingdom "for his development of the Wilson cloud chamber method, and his discoveries therewith in the fields of nuclear physics and cosmic radiation" [52]
1949 Hideki Yukawa (1907–1981)  Japan "for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces" [53]
1950 C. F. Powell (1903–1969)  United Kingdom "for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method" [54]
1951 John Cockcroft (1897–1967)  United Kingdom "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles" [55]
Ernest Walton (1903–1995)  Ireland
1952 Felix Bloch (1905–1983)  United States "for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith" [56]
Edward Mills Purcell (1912–1997)
1953 Frits Zernike (1888–1966)  Netherlands "for his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope" [57]
1954 Max Born (1882–1970)  West Germany "for his fundamental research in quantum mechanics, especially for his statistical interpretation of the wavefunction" [58]
Walther Bothe (1891–1957) "for the coincidence method and his discoveries made therewith" [58]
1955 Willis Lamb (1913–2008)  United States "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum" [59]
Polykarp Kusch (1911–1993)  United States "for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron" [59]
1956 John Bardeen (1908–1991)  United States "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect" [60]
Walter Houser Brattain (1902–1987)
William Shockley (1910–1989)
1957 Lee Tsung-Dao (b. 1926)  Republic of China "for their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles" [61]
Yang Chen-Ning (b. 1922)
1958 Pavel Cherenkov (1904–1990)  Soviet Union "for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov effect" [62]
Ilya Frank (1908–1990)
Igor Tamm (1895–1971)
1959 Emilio Segrè (1905–1989)  United States "for their discovery of the antiproton" [63]
Owen Chamberlain (1920–2006)
1960 Donald A. Glaser (1926–2013)  United States "for the invention of the bubble chamber" [64]
1961 Robert Hofstadter (1915–1990)  United States "for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons" [65]
Rudolf Mössbauer (1929–2011)  West Germany "for his researches concerning the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and his discovery in this connection of the effect which bears his name" [65]
1962 Lev Landau (1908–1968)  Soviet Union "for his pioneering theories for condensed matter, especially liquid helium" [66]
1963 Eugene Wigner (1902–1995)  United States "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles" [67]
Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906–1972)  United States "for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure" [67]
J. Hans D. Jensen (1907–1973)  West Germany
1964 Nikolay Basov (1922–2001)  Soviet Union "for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maserlaser principle" [68]
Alexander Prokhorov (1916–2002)
Charles H. Townes (1915–2015)  United States
1965 Richard Feynman (1918–1988)  United States "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics (QED), with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles" [69]
Julian Schwinger (1918–1994)
Shin'ichirō Tomonaga (1906–1979)  Japan
1966 Alfred Kastler (1902–1984)  France "for the discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms" [70]
1967 Hans Bethe (1906–2005)  United States "for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars" [71]
1968 Luis Alvarez (1911–1988)  United States "for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis" [72]
1969 Murray Gell-Mann (1929–2019)  United States "for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions" [73]
1970 Hannes Alfvén (1908–1995)  Sweden "for fundamental work and discoveries in magneto-hydrodynamics with fruitful applications in different parts of plasma physics" [74]
Louis Néel (1904–2000)  France "for fundamental work and discoveries concerning antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism which have led to important applications in solid state physics" [74]
1971 Dennis Gabor (1900–1979)  United Kingdom "for his invention and development of the holographic method" [75]
1972 John Bardeen (1908–1991)  United States "for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory" [76]
Leon Cooper (b. 1930)
John Robert Schrieffer (1931–2019)
1973 Leo Esaki (b. 1925)  Japan "for their experimental discoveries regarding tunneling phenomena in semiconductors and superconductors, respectively" [77]
Ivar Giaever (b. 1929)  United States
cmglee_Cambridge_Wikimedia_Meetup_23_tour_Brian_Josephson.jpg
Brian Josephson (b. 1940)  United Kingdom "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 effect" [77]
1974 Martin Ryle (1918–1984)  United Kingdom "for their pioneering research in radio astrophysics: Ryle for his observations and inventions, in particular of the aperture synthesis technique, and Hewish for his decisive role in the discovery of pulsars" [78]
Antony Hewish (1924–2021)
1975 Aage Bohr (1922–2009)  Denmark "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" [79]
Ben Roy Mottelson (1926–2022)
James Rainwater (1917–1986)  United States
1976 Samuel C. C. Ting (b. 1936)  United States "for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind" [80]
Burton Richter (1931–2018)
1977 Philip Warren Anderson (1923–2020)  United States "for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems" [81]
Nevill Francis Mott (1905–1996)  United Kingdom
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (1899–1980)  United States
1978 Pyotr Kapitsa (1894–1984)  Soviet Union "for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics" [82]
Arno Allan Penzias (1933–2024)  United States "for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation" [82]
Robert Woodrow Wilson (b. 1936)
1979 Sheldon Glashow (b. 1932)  United States "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" [83]
Abdus Salam (1926–1996)  Pakistan
Steven Weinberg (1933–2021)  United States
1980 James Cronin (1931–2016)  United States "for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons" [84]
Val Logsdon Fitch (1923–2015)
1981 Nicolaas Bloembergen (1920–2017)  United States "for their contribution to the development of laser spectroscopy" [85]
Arthur Leonard Schawlow (1921–1999)
Kai Siegbahn (1918–2007)  Sweden "for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy" [85]
1982 Kenneth G. Wilson (1936–2013)  United States "for his theory for critical phenomena in connection with phase transitions" [86]
1983 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1910–1995) "for his theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the structure and evolution of the stars" [87]
William Alfred Fowler (1911–1995)  United States "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe" [87]
1984 Carlo Rubbia (b. 1934)  Italy "for their decisive contributions to the large project, which led to the discovery of the field particles W and Z, communicators of weak interaction" [88]
Simon van der Meer (1925–2011)  Netherlands
1985 Klaus von Klitzing (b. 1943)  West Germany "for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect" [89]
1986 Ernst Ruska (1906–1988)  West Germany "for his fundamental work in electron optics, and for the design of the first electron microscope" [90]
Gerd Binnig (b. 1947)  West Germany "for their design of the scanning tunneling microscope" [90]
Heinrich Rohrer (1933–2013)   Switzerland
1987 Georg Bednorz (b. 1950)  West Germany "for their important break-through in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials" [91]
K. Alex Müller (1927–2023)   Switzerland
1988 Leon M. Lederman (1922–2018)  United States "for the neutrino beam method and the demonstration of the doublet structure of the leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino" [92]
Melvin Schwartz (1932–2006)
Jack Steinberger (1921–2020)
1989 Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. (1915–2011)  United States "for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks" [93]
Hans Georg Dehmelt (1922–2017) "for the development of the ion trap technique" [93]
Wolfgang Paul (1913–1993)  West Germany
1990 Jerome I. Friedman (b. 1930)  United States "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" [94]
Henry Way Kendall (1926–1999)
Richard E. Taylor (1929–2018)  Canada
1991 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932–2007)  France "for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers" [95]
1992 Georges Charpak (1924–2010)  France "for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber" [96]
1993 Russell Alan Hulse (b. 1950)  United States "for the discovery of a new type of pulsar, a discovery that has opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation" [97]
Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. (b. 1941)
1994 Bertram Brockhouse (1918–2003)  Canada "for the development of neutron spectroscopy" and "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter" [98]
Clifford Shull (1915–2001)  United States "for the development of the neutron diffraction technique" and "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter" [98]
1995 Martin Lewis Perl (1927–2014)  United States "for the discovery of the tau lepton" and "for pioneering experimental contributions to lepton physics" [99]
Frederick Reines (1918–1998) "for the detection of the neutrino" and "for pioneering experimental contributions to lepton physics" [99]
1996 David Lee (b. 1931)  United States "for their discovery of superfluidity in helium-3" [100]
Douglas D. Osheroff (b. 1945)
Robert Coleman Richardson (1937–2013)
1997 Steven Chu (b. 1948)  United States "for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light." [101]
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (b. 1933)  France
William Daniel Phillips (b. 1948)  United States
1998 Robert B. Laughlin (b. 1950)  United States "for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations" [102]
Horst Ludwig Störmer (b. 1949)  Germany
Daniel C. Tsui (b. 1939)  United States
1999 Gerard 't Hooft (b. 1946)  Netherlands "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics" [103]
Martinus J. G. Veltman (1931–2021)
2000 Zhores Alferov (1930–2019)  Russia "for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and optoelectronics" [104]
Herbert Kroemer (1928–2024)  Germany
Jack Kilby (1923–2005)  United States "for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit" [104]
2001 Eric Allin Cornell (b. 1961)  United States "for the achievement of Bose–Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates" [105]
Carl Wieman (b. 1951)
Wolfgang Ketterle (b. 1957)  Germany
2002 Raymond Davis Jr. (1914–2006)  United States "for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos" [106]
Masatoshi Koshiba (1926–2020)  Japan
Riccardo Giacconi (1931–2018)  United States
 Italy
"for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources" [106]
2003 Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (1928–2017)  Russia
 United States
"for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids" [107]
Vitaly Ginzburg (1916–2009)  Russia
Anthony James Leggett (b. 1938)  United Kingdom
 United States
2004 David Gross (b. 1941)  United States "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction" [108]
Hugh David Politzer (b. 1949)
Frank Wilczek (b. 1951)
2005 Roy J. Glauber (1925–2018)  United States "for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence" [109]
John L. Hall (b. 1934) "for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique" [109]
Theodor W. Hänsch (b. 1941)  Germany
2006 John C. Mather (b. 1946)  United States "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation" [110]
George Smoot (b. 1945)
2007 Albert Fert (b. 1938)  France "for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance" [111]
Peter Grünberg (1939–2018)  Germany
2008 Makoto Kobayashi (b. 1944)  Japan "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature" [112]
Toshihide Maskawa (1940–2021)
Yoichiro Nambu (1921–2015)  United States "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics" [112]
2009 Charles K. Kao (1933–2018)  Hong Kong
 United Kingdom
"for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication" [113]
Willard S. Boyle (1924–2011)  United States "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor" [113]
George E. Smith (b. 1930)
2010 Andre Geim (b. 1958)  United Kingdom "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene" [114]
Konstantin Novoselov (b. 1974)
2011 Saul Perlmutter (b. 1959)  United States "for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae" [115]
Brian P. Schmidt (b. 1967)  Australia
Adam G. Riess (b. 1969)  United States
2012 Serge Haroche (b. 1944)  France "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems." [116]
David J. Wineland (b. 1944)  United States
2013 François Englert (b. 1932)  Belgium "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 at CERN's Large Hadron Collider" [117]
Peter Higgs (b. 1929)  United Kingdom
2014 Isamu Akasaki (1929–2021)  Japan "for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources" [118]
Hiroshi Amano (b. 1960)
Shuji Nakamura (b. 1954)  United States
2015 Takaaki Kajita (b. 1959)  Japan "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass" [119]
Arthur B. McDonald (b. 1943)  Canada
2016 David J. Thouless (1934–2019)  United Kingdom "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter" [120]
Duncan Haldane (b. 1951)  United Kingdom
John M. Kosterlitz (b. 1943)  United States United Kingdom
2017 Rainer Weiss (b. 1932)  United States "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves" [121]
Kip Thorne (b. 1940)  United States
Barry Barish (b. 1936)
2018 Arthur Ashkin (1922–2020)  United States "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics", in particular "for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems" [122]
Gérard Mourou (b. 1944)  France "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics", in particular "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses"
Donna Strickland (b. 1959)  Canada
2019 James Peebles (b. 1935)  United States "for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology" [123]
Michel Mayor (b. 1942)   Switzerland "for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star"
Didier Queloz (b. 1966)
  •   Switzerland
  •  United Kingdom
2020 Roger Penrose (b. 1931)  United Kingdom "for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity" [124]
Reinhard Genzel (b. 1952)  Germany "for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy"
Andrea M. Ghez (b. 1965)  United States
2021 Syukuro Manabe (b. 1931)  United States[125] "for the physical modelling of Earth's climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming" [126]
Klaus Hasselmann (b. 1931)  Germany
Giorgio Parisi (b. 1948)  Italy "for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales"
2022 Alain Aspect (b. 1947)  France "for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science" [127]
John Clauser (b. 1942)  United States
Anton Zeilinger (b. 1945)  Austria
2023 Anne L'Huillier (b. 1958)
  •  France
  •  Sweden
"for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter" [128][129]
Ferenc Krausz (b. 1962)
  •  Austria
  •  Hungary
Pierre Agostini (b. 1941)  France

Number of Nobel laureates in Physics by country

Country Number of Nobel laureates
 United States 90
 European Union 74
 Germany 26
 United Kingdom 24
 France 16
 Russia 10
 Netherlands 9
 Japan 9
 Canada 6
 Switzerland 6
 Austria 5
 Italy 6
 Sweden 4
 Denmark 3
 Republic of China (1912-1949) 2
 Hungary 2
 Republic of China (Taiwan) 2
 Australia 1
 Norway 1
 Poland 1
 Ireland 1
 Pakistan 1
 Belgium 1
 India 1

See also

References

Notes

^ A. The form and spelling of the names in the name column is according to nobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Foundation. Alternative spellings and name forms, where they exist, are given at the articles linked from this column. Where available, an image of each Nobel laureate is provided. For the official pictures provided by the Nobel Foundation, see the pages for each Nobel laureate at nobelprize.org.

^ B. The information in the country column is according to nobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Foundation. This information may not necessarily reflect the recipient's birthplace or citizenship, and instead reflect their academic or scientific affiliation at the time of receiving the award.

^ C. The citation for each award is quoted (not always in full) from nobelprize.org, the official website of the Nobel Foundation. The links in this column are to articles (or sections of articles) on the history and areas of physics for which the awards were presented. The links are intended only as a guide and explanation. For a full account of the work done by each Nobel laureate, please see the biography articles linked from the name column.

Citations

  1. ^ "Alfred Nobel – The Man Behind the Nobel Prize". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  2. ^ "The Nobel Prize Awarders". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  3. ^ "The Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  4. ^ "The Nobel Prize". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  5. ^ "All Nobel Prizes in Physics". The Nobel Foundation. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Why Nobel-Winning Scientists are Getting Older". Priceonomics. 10 April 2015. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022. Though Bragg is no longer the youngest Nobel Laureate of all time — Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize this past year, at age 17 — he is still the youngest in the sciences.
  7. ^ "Facts on the Nobel Prize in Physics". The Nobel Foundation. 6 October 2022. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Nobel Prize Awarded Women". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  9. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1914". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  10. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1917". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1918". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1921". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1924". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  14. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1925". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  15. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1928". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  16. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1932". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  17. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1943". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  18. ^ Ioannidis, John; Cristea, Ioana-Alina; Boyack, Kevin (29 July 2020). "Work honored by Nobel prizes clusters heavily in a few scientific fields". PLOS ONE. 15 (7): e0234612. Bibcode:2020PLoSO..1534612I. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0234612. PMC 7390258. PMID 32726312.
  19. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1901". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  20. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1902". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  21. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1903". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  22. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1904". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  23. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1905". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  24. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1906". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  25. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1907". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  26. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1908". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  27. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1909". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  28. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1910". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  29. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1911". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  30. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1912". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  31. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1913". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  32. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1915". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  33. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1919". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  34. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1920". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  35. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  36. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1923". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  37. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1926". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  38. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1927". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  39. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1929". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  40. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1930". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  41. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1933". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  42. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1935". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  43. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  44. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1937". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  45. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1938". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  46. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1939". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  47. ^ "Otto Stern" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  48. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1944". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  49. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1945". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  50. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1946". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  51. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1947". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  52. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1948". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  53. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1949". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  54. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1950". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  55. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1951". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  56. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1952". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  57. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1953". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  58. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1954". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  59. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1955". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  60. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1956". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  61. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1957". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  62. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1958". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  63. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1959". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  64. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1960". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  65. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1961". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  66. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1962". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  67. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1963". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  68. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1964". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  69. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1965". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  70. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1966". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  71. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1967". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  72. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1968". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  73. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1969". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  74. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1970". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  75. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1971". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  76. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1972". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  77. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1973". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  78. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1974". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  79. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1975". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  80. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1976". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  81. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1977". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  82. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  83. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  84. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1980". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  85. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1981". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  86. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1982". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  87. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1983". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  88. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1984". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  89. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1985". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  90. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1986". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  91. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1987". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  92. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1988". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  93. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1989". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  94. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1990". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  95. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1991". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  96. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1992". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  97. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1993". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  98. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1994". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  99. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1995". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  100. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1996". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  101. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1997". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  102. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1998". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  103. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1999". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  104. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2000". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  105. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2001". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  106. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2002". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 March 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  107. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2003". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  108. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  109. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2005". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  110. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  111. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2007". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  112. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  113. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2009". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  114. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  115. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  116. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2012". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  117. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 Press Release" (PDF). Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  118. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  119. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  120. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2016". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  121. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  122. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  123. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  124. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  125. ^ "He is considered a U.S. citizen by Nobel Prize Committee". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  126. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021". Nobel Foundation. 5 October 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  127. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2022". Nobel Foundation. 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  128. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023". Nobel Foundation. 3 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  129. ^ "Contributors [Back cover]". IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics. 6 (12). 1970.

External links