Who Won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics and Why Not Others?

[genefalk]

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics was just awarded to Francois Englert and Peter W. Higgs.

Why were they chosen over Robert Brout, Gerald Guralnik, Richard Hagen and Tom Kibble who published similar results at about the same time.

 

[DrChinese]

The prize is only awarded to living persons, for one thing. I believe Brout was a colleague of Englert and is no longer with us. Don't know about the others. Second, there is a max of 3.

Inevitably, there are important contributors who cannot be recognized with almost any discovery. Or somehow are left behind. J.S. Bell died before he could be nominated, for example. I personally believe he would have won by now.

 

[Borek]

Please continue here: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=715147