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Saul Perlmutter

! scientist · # tag · @ author
1959– · Cosmology, Astrophysics
Astrophysicist, leader of the project to observe type Ia supernovae, which led to the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe and dark energy.

Biography

Born in Champaign, Illinois. Graduated from Harvard and received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, where he later led the Supernova Cosmology Project. From the 1990s, he coordinated an international team to precisely measure distant supernovae. In 1998, he published revolutionary results indicating the acceleration of the universe's expansion. Nobel Prize laureate in Physics 2011 (jointly with Schmidt and Riess).

Key discoveries

💡 Perlmutter and his competing group led by Schmidt worked in parallel for a long time, and when both reached the same conclusion, skepticism turned to euphoria. To make sure the results were not caused by cosmic dust, they rechecked the data for years.
Quote: "“The universe is not just expanding — it is doing so ever faster, as if driven by an invisible hand.”"
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Related tags
dark energyexpansion of the universe
Related laws
Hubble's law
Related scientists
Adam RiessEmmy NoetherChristian DopplerMaarten SchmidtBrian SchmidtRobert Woodrow WilsonRainer Sachs

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