Black Holes, Singularities, and the Galactic Center

This is the second year in a row when the most prestigious scientific Nobel prize is awarded for theoretical research in the field of gravity and cosmology and high quality astronomical observations. In 2019, J. Peebles won the prize for the achievements in physical cosmology, and astronomers M. Mayor and D. Queloz were awarded the prize for the discovery of the extrasolar planet near a solar-type star. In 2020, half of the Nobel Prize in physics went to the mathematician Roger Penrose “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity”. The second half was awarded to the astronomers Andrea Ghez and Reinhard Genzel – “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our Galaxy”. In this article we review the historical development of cosmological studies and the importance of the discoveries that resulted in the Nobel Prize awards.

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