Dr. Yoichiro Nambu of the United States shared half of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics." Dr. Makoto Kobayashi and Dr. Tohihide Maskawa of Japan received a quarter of the prize. According to the DOE press release, the three researchers provided a deeper understanding of what happens far inside the tiniest building blocks of nature.
Dr. Nambu, a U.S. citizen, is the Harry Pratt Judson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago’s Enrico Fermi Institute. "As early as 1960, Yoichiro Nambu formulated his mathematical description of spontaneous broken symmetry in elementary particle physics," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences news release announced. "Spontaneous broken symmetry conceals nature’s order under an apparently jumbled surface. It has proved to be extremely useful, and Nambu’s theories permeate the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The Model unifies the smallest building blocks of all matter and three of nature’s four forces in one single theory."
See a list of DOE-supported and/or -affiliated Nobel Prize winners since 1977.
Featured Citations from Energy Citations Database
- Three-triplet Model with Double SU(3) Symmetry; with M. Y. Han; Report No. NYO-3399-31; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; [1965]; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4568675
- Self-consistent Models of Strong Interaction with Chiral Symmetry; with P. Pascual; Report No. EFINS-63-25; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; April 1963; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4664554
- Double-phase Representation of Analytic Functions; with M. Sugawara; Report No. TID-19142; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; [1963]; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4664549
- Broken SU(3) x SU(3) x SU(3) x SU(3) Symmetry; with P. G. O. Freund; Report Nos. COO-264-219 and EFINS-64-53; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; October 1964; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4628980
- Triplets, Static SU(6), and Spontaneously Broken Chiral SU(3) Symmetry; Report No. COO-264-308; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; January 1966; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4535303
- Lectures on Chiral Symmetries and Soft Pion Processes; Report No. EFINS--66-107; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; August 1966; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4175767
- Infinite Multiplets; Report Nos. COO--264-403, EFINS--67-80, and CONF-670824--3; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago; 1967; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4574063
- Theoretical Research in Elementary Particle Physics. Technical Progress Report, April 1--December 1, 1968; Report No. COO--264-469; Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago; December 1968; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4821103
- Soft Pion Processes; Report Nos. COO--264-421, EFI--68-11, and CONF-680102--2; Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago; January 1968; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4537294
- Statistical Approach to the Veneziano Model; with L. N. Chang and P. G. O. Freund; Report Nos. COO--264-530 and EFI--69-101; Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago; December 1969; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4171573
- Remarks on the Topology Of Gauge Fields; Report Nos. SLAC-PUB-2089 and CONF-780145-1; Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; March 1978; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6919300
- Research in the Theory of Condensed Matter and Elementary Particles: Final Report, September 1, 1984-November 30, 1987; with others; Report No. DOE/ER/45144-2; The University of Chicago; April 1988; http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6965310
Featured Documents from E-print Network
- Three Triplet Model with Double SU(3) Symmetry; with M. Y. Han; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; August 1965; http://link.aps.org/abstract/PR/v139/pB1006
- Quasi-Particles and Gauge Invariance in the Theory of Superconductivity; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; February 1960; http://link.aps.org/abstract/PR/v117/p648
- Dynamical Model of Elementary Particles Based on an Analogy with Superconductivity. I; with G. Jona-Lasinio; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; April 1961; http://link.aps.org/abstract/PR/v122/p345
- Dynamical Model of Elementary Particles Based on an Analogy with Superconductivity. II; with G. Jona-Lasinio; Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; October 1961; http://link.aps.org/abstract/PR/v124/p246
- Directions of Particle Physics; Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; November 1985; http://ccdb4fs.kek.jp/cgi-bin/img/allpdf?198602018
- Supersymmetry and Superconductivity; Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Physics, University of Chicago; November 1985; http://ccdb4fs.kek.jp/cgi-bin/img/allpdf?198605129
- Thermodynamic Analogy in Quantum Field Theory; University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi Institute; April 1987;
http://ccdb4fs.kek.jp/cgi-bin/img/allpdf?198707131