Gruber Foundation Announces 2011 Cosmology Prize Recipients
Gruber Foundation Announces 2011 Cosmology Prize Recipients
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2011 Cosmology Prize, which recognizes and encourages exploration in a scientific field that shapes the way the universe is perceived and comprehended.
The $500,000 prize was awarded to four astronomers — Marc Davis, George Efstathiou, Carlos Frenk, and Simon White — for their pioneering use of numerical simulations to model and interpret the large-scale distribution of matter in the universe. The recipients, who are known in cosmological circles as "the gang of four" and often collectively referred to as "DEFW," will each receive an equal share of the award and a gold medal at a ceremony in the fall, where they will also deliver a lecture.
While astronomers have always tried to describe what the universe looks like, it wasn't until the four published a series of five papers between 1985 and 1998 that scientists finally understood and could explain how the universe had coalesced. Today, the cold dark matter (CDM) theory promoted by DEFW is one of two key pillars of the standard cosmological model; the other, the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, was anticipated by DEFW simulations and confirmed in the late 1990s.
"The DEFW papers were instrumental in ushering in a new era where numerical simulations became a standard tool of cosmological studies," said Wendy Freedman, Crawford H. Greenewalt chair and director of the observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and chair of the 2011 Cosmology Prize selection advisory board.
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