Breakthrough Prize
Breakthrough Prize 2012: Winners
Recipients
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Fundamental Physics
Alan Guth
Invention of inflationary cosmology, and for contributions to the theory for the generation of cosmological density fluctuations arising from quantum fluctuations
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Fundamental Physics
Alexei Kitaev
For robust quantum memories and fault-tolerant quantum computation using topological quantum phases with anyons and unpaired Majorana modes; topological quantum computing.
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Fundamental Physics
Andrei Linde
For development of inflationary cosmology, including the theory of new inflation, eternal chaotic inflation and the theory of inflationary multiverse, and for contributing to the development of vacuum stabilization mechanisms in string theory.
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Fundamental Physics
Ashoke Sen
Opening the path to the realization that all string theories are different limits of the same underlying theory.
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Fundamental Physics
Edward Witten
For applications of topology to physics, non-perturbative duality symmetries, models of particle physics derived from string theory, dark matter detection, and the twistor-string approach to particle scattering amplitudes, as well as numerous applications of quantum field theory to mathematics.
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Fundamental Physics
Juan Maldacena
Contributions to gauge/gravity duality, relating gravitational physics in a spacetime and quantum field theory on the boundary of the spacetime
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Fundamental Physics
Maxim Kontsevich
Numerous contributions including development of homological mirror symmetry, and the study of wall-crossing phenomena.
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Fundamental Physics
Nathan Seiberg
Contributions to our understanding of quantum field theory and string theory.
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Fundamental Physics
Nima Arkani-Hamed
Original approaches to outstanding problems in particle physics