Scientists from the US and the Netherlands, working in particle physics and molecular biology, are winners in this year's Nobel prize awards . Physics Professor Gerardus't Hooft, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and Professor Emeritus Martinus J.G. Veltman, Bilthoven, the Netherlands for having placed the standard particle theory on a firmer mathematical foundation. The standard theoretical model of particle physics was incomplete mathematically and in particular it was unclear whether the theory could be used for detailed calculations of physical quantities.
Atoms consist of electrons and atomic nuclei.
In the nuclei there are protons and neutrons, which in turn are made up of quarks. Particle accelerators make it possible to study the creation of new particles and the forces that act between them. The work has given researchers a well functioning 'theoretical machinery' which can be used for, among other things, predicting the properties of new particles. Chemistry Professor Ahmed H. Zewail, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA for showing that it is possible with rapid laser technique to see how atoms in a molecule move during a chemical reaction. This years laureate in Chemistry has studied atoms and molecules in 'slow motion' during a reaction and seen what actually happens when chemical bonds break and new ones are created.