Nobel Prize to ‘t Hooft and Veltman for Putting Electroweak Theory on Firmer Foundation
DOI: 10.1063/1.882894
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly to Gerard ‘t Hooft of the University of Utrecht and Martinus J. G. Veltman, now retired from the University of Michigan, “for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics.” The Academy’s announcement stressed that the two Dutch theorists were honored “for having placed particle physics theory on a firmer mathematical foundation.” They developed a technique with which one can calculate radiative corrections to the electroweak theory, and, says the Academy, “they have in particular shown how the theory may be used for precise calculations of physical quantities. Experiments at accelerator laboratories in Europe and the USA have recently confirmed many of the calculated results.”
