About Breakthrough Physics Frontiers Prize
The Physics Frontiers Prize is a component of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, recognizing significant recent advances in the field.
List of Breakthrough Physics Frontiers Prize Winners (2012-2025)
The Breakthrough Physics Frontiers Prize category has honored 10 recipients between 2012 and 2025 under the Breakthrough Prize, presented by the Breakthrough Prize Organization. Explore the complete list of award winners, recipients, and year-wise details.
| Images | Year | Winner Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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2014 | Cumrun Vafa | Harvard University | |
For numerous deep and groundbreaking contributions to quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory and geometry. With Strominger, their joint statistical derivation of the Bekenstein-Hawking area-entropy relation unified the laws of thermodynamics with the laws of black hole dynamics and revealed the holographic nature of quantum spacetime. |
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2014 | Andrew Strominger | Harvard University | |
For numerous deep and groundbreaking contributions to quantum field theory, quantum gravity, string theory and geometry. With Vafa, their joint statistical derivation of the Bekenstein-Hawking area-entropy relation unified the laws of thermodynamics with the laws of black hole dynamics and revealed the holographic nature of quantum spacetime. |
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2014 | John H. Schwarz | California Institute of Technology | |
For opening new perspectives on quantum gravity and the unification of forces. |
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2014 | Michael B. Green | University of Cambridge | |
For opening new perspectives on quantum gravity and the unification of forces. |
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2014 | Joseph Polchinski | University of California, Santa Barbara and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics | |
For his contributions in many areas of quantum field theory and string theory. His discovery of D-branes has given new insights into string theory and quantum gravity, with consequences including the AdS/CFT correspondence. |
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2013 | Alexander Polyakov | Princeton University | |
For his many discoveries in field theory and string theory including the conformal bootstrap, magnetic monopoles, instantons, confinement/de-confinement, the quantization of strings in non-critical dimensions, gauge/string duality and many others. His ideas have dominated the scene in these fields during the past decades. |
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2013 | Laurens Molenkamp | University of Würzburg | |
For the theoretical prediction and experimental discovery of topological insulators. |
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2013 | Shoucheng Zhang | Stanford University | |
For the theoretical prediction and experimental discovery of topological insulators. |
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2013 | Charles Kane | University of Pennsylvania | |
For the theoretical prediction and experimental discovery of topological insulators. |
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2013 | Joseph Polchinski | University of California, Santa Barbara and Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics | |
For his contributions in many areas of quantum field theory and string theory. His discovery of D-branes has given new insights into string theory and quantum gravity, with consequences including the AdS/CFT correspondence. |
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