Scientists awarded prestigious prize for groundbreaking research on black hole photon spheres and the universe's cosmological collider

Scientists Alexandru Lupsasca and Michael Johnson have been awarded the New Horizon Prize in Physics for their work on describing the structure and detection of black hole photon spheres. These enigmatic structures, which form at the edges of black holes, could provide insights into the physics governing extreme cosmic objects. The prize, given by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, recognizes early career researchers and comes with a $100,000 award. The researchers propose using next-generation interferometric experiments to detect these photon spheres and gain unprecedented understanding of the strongest gravitational forces in the universe.