The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008

Yoichiro Nambu

Photo: University of Chicago

Prize share: 1/2

Makoto Kobayashi

© The Nobel Foundation Photo: U. Montan

Prize share: 1/4

Toshihide Maskawa

© The Nobel Foundation Photo: U. Montan

Prize share: 1/4

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008 was divided, one half awarded to Yoichiro Nambu "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics", the other half jointly to Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2008. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Mon. 24 Feb 2020. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2008/summary/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Learn more

Nobel Prizes 2019

Fifteen laureates were awarded in 2019, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen to our ability to fight global poverty.

See them all presented here.
2019 Nobel Laureates

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.