US, Japanese physicists to share Wolf prize
By Judy Siegel-Itzkovich

(January 19) The Wolf Prize for physics will be shared this year by Prof. Raymond Davis Jr., 85, of the University of Pennsylvania, and Prof. Masatoshi Koshiba, 73, of the University of Tokyo.

The $100,000 prizes will be presented at the Knesset on May 21.

"Their observations of the elusive neutrinos of astrophysical origin have opened a new window of opportunity for the study of astronomical objects, such as the sun and exploding stars, and the study of fundamental properties of matter," the Wolf jury stated.

Davis, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, has been associated with the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York since 1946. "He developed, through persistent and sustained efforts, the first large-scale radiochemical neutrino detectors and obtained the first measurements of the flu of neutrinos from the sun."

These measurements were shown to provide a very stringent test for theories of the solar interior.

Koshiba led the design and construction of the Kamiokande detectors, which broke new ground by recording the time of arrival, energy, and direction of the incoming neutrinos.

"These attributes were essential in identifying that neutrinos from Supernova 1987a and the low-energy neutrinos originate in the sun, and in measuring the fluxes of neutrinos of different types produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere, providing the initial evidence that neutrinos have mass."

The Wolf Prizes were endowed by the late German-born inventor, diplomat, and philanthropist, Dr. Ricardo Wolf.