Professor at the Technical University of Münich, Germany
Motivation:
Prof. Wolfgang Götze has opened new directions in the study of the glassy dynamics, in structural and colloidal glass forming systems. In 1984 Götze, together with Bengtzelius and Sjölander, has applied mode-coupling theory to supercooled liquids and has proven that a dynamical transition from an ergodic to a non ergodic phase occurs. His seminal work called attention to the full dynamic scale of the decay of correlations, from the picoseconds to the seconds, opening the way for careful comparisons with x-rays and neutron scattering experiments. Prof. Wolfgang Götze work had, and still has, a huge impact on the scientific community. The very recent application of his work to dynamic arrest in colloidal systems confirms the ability of Götze's theory to capture sophisticated novel dynamic phenomena and to provide a powerful instrument in the design of the mechanical properties of novel materials.
Prof. Götze has contributed significantly also to the theory of lattice dynamics, the Kondo problem, the dynamic structure factor of liquid helium II and the Anderson localization.
Professor at Stanford University
Motivation:
In the last twenty years, Prof. Savas Dimopoulos has opened important new directions in the understanding of the mechanism of symmetry breaking and new physics at the TeV scale, with breakthrough contributions: the idea of extended technicolor, the invention of the supersymmetric standard model and supersymmetric grand unified theories, and the proposal of TeV scale quantum gravity with large extra dimensions.
These ideas have driven the activity of many theorists and triggered an intense experimental activity, ranging from collider searches for techniparticles, supersymmetric particles, TeV strings and black holes and measurements of Newtonian gravity at submillimiters scales.
Prof. Savas Dimopoulos is one of the leading figures in theoretical particle physics and he is still exploring new possibilities for physics beyond the Standard Model that can be tested in future experiments.
