The 2008 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded for work both “for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics” and “for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature” [1]. The write-up of the background physics for the prize notes the hard work of the Belle and BaBar collaborations in confirming the mixing matrix model as a complete description of CP violation in the quark system.
While many lively discussions are currently in progress about whether others should or should not have received the prize (I think the ones about the medical Nobel are more heated), the decision has been made and it’s worth taking time to reflect on the insights of the physicists awarded this prize. You can argue about the arbitrariness of awarding just three people a year a prize for work on such a rich subject as physics, and you can debate whether some people did the work first or are more deserving. These are all valid discussions. But in the process, let us not forget that what has been singled out is damn good physics.
[1] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2008/
