Previous Year Question
T. Kajita and A. McDonald, winner of the year 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics belong to which of the following countries respectively?
U.S.A. and Japan
Japan and U.S.A.
Japan and Canada
Canada and U.S.A.
Correct Answer: C
Detailed Solution
The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics was jointly awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald.
Takaaki Kajita is from Japan. At the time of the award, he was affiliated with the University of Tokyo.
Arthur B. McDonald is from Canada. At the time of the award, he was affiliated with Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.
The two scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for their important contributions to the discovery of neutrino oscillations. Their experiments demonstrated that neutrinos can change from one identity to another and that neutrinos have non-zero mass.
Kajita's research group studied atmospheric neutrinos using the Super-Kamiokande detector in Japan, while McDonald's group studied solar neutrinos at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada.
These two independent experiments played a decisive role in resolving the important particle-physics problem known as the missing neutrino problem.
Takaaki Kajita → Japan
Arthur B. McDonald → Canada