Stony Brook physics professor honored with $3 million prize

A distinguished professor of physics at Stony Brook University’s College of Arts and Sciences is one of three recipients of a $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the school announced today. 

Dr. Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, who has been with Stony Brook since 2001, was recognized along with theorists Dr. Sergio Ferrara and Dr. Daniel Freedman for their “invention of supergravity, in which quantum variables are part of the description of the geometry of spacetime.”

Or, according to Britannica, “a type of quantum field theory of elementary subatomic particles and their interactions.”

The prize is awarded once per year to recognize the world’s top scientists in the fields of life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics. The three scientists will be honored for their achievements at a ceremony at NASA’s Hangar 1 on Sunday, Nov. 3.