2024 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Applications of Statistical Physics to Machine Learning!

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to physicist John Hopfield and computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton.

The official prize citation is "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks". However, I strongly prefer the phrasing along the lines of "for the statistical-physics basis of neural networks", which is how mathematical physicist Barry Simon described it.

Here is the information, press release, and other materials from The Nobel Foundation.

Naturally, I am strongly in favor of more Nobel Prizes being awarded for foundational interdisciplinary work, as that is the world in which I live. Unsurprisingly, many traditional physicists are arguing against and doing their common practice of staking territorial claim (as we also often see on the job market and in other arenas). This is an old battle, and we can look forward to a later phase when somebody gets a physics Nobel Prize for work in networks. That said, I am grateful to see people arguing about science, rather than about other ideological things!

Some Notable American Physical Society Spring 2021 Prizes

The American Physical Society (APS) has announced its Spring 2021 prizes. It includes some awards to some great people in topics of interest to me. Here are ones that I want to highlight.

2021 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

For seminal contributions to nonequilibrium and equilibrium statistical mechanics, in particular, studies of large deviations in nonequilibrium steady states and rigorous analysis of Gibbs equilibrium ensembles.

2021 Leo P. Kadanoff Prize

Sidney Redner, Santa Fe Institute

For leadership in transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries by applying and advancing deep concepts and methods of statistical physics to gain novel insights into diverse real-world phenomena.

2021 Lars Onsager Prize

Lev P. Pitaevskii, INO-CNR BEC Center, University of Trento; Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences

For originating the Gross-Pitaevskii theory of non-uniform Bose-Einstein condensates and subsequent extensive contributions to the theory of quantum fluids, especially as applied to ultracold atomic gases.

2021 Early Career Award for Soft Matter Research

Eleni Katifori, University of Pennsylvania

For the seminal use of physical principles in understanding living transport networks.