DR. PINTO WINS AN AWARD FROM THE GRAVITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Asst. Prof. Fabrizio PINTO, of the Izmir University of Economics, has been selected for Honorable Mention, a prestigious award given by the “Gravity Research Foundation” in its yearly competition for the best and most well-written essays about gravitation, its theory, applications or effects. This is the eighth time Dr. Pinto receives an award in the last twenty years.
As is well known, gravitational waves were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), which earned LIGO a Nobel Prize in physics in in 2017. Dr. PINTO has been awarded with an Honorable Mention for his proposal to measure the gravitational field with a different method based on exotic quantum systems of three atoms, called Efimov states. The major advantage of this approach is that the dimensions of the proposed equipment can be very small. A device that will be developed based on the proposed principle will be used in spacecraft while it is travelling to measure minor changes in the gravitational field or very small accelerations.
The awarding institution, the Gravity Research Foundation, was founded by Roger W. Babson in 1948 to study “antigravity.” Later on, this award has been given to broader studies devoted to achieving a better understanding of gravitation. In the past, this award has been given to Nobel Laureates such as George Smoot [Nobel Prize - Physics 2006], Julian Schwinger (Nobel Prize - Physics 1965), Gerard ‘t Hooft (Nobel Prize - Physics 1999) as well as to other scientists of worldwide reputation such as John Archibald Wheeler , Stephen Hawking, and Roger Penrose.