2011年诺贝尔物理学奖揭晓：宇宙或将终结于冰川

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 with one half to Saul Perlmutter, and the other half jointly to Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess, for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.

瑞典皇家科学院决定将2011年诺贝尔物理学奖，一半授予萨尔·波尔马特，另一半授予布莱恩·施密特和亚当·里斯，以表彰他们通过观测遥远超新星发现宇宙的膨胀速度正在加快。

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice..."

有人说世界将终于火海，有人说世界将终于冰川……

What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year's Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves.

宇宙最终的命运究竟会何去何从？如果我们相信今年诺贝尔物理学奖得住的研究结果，那么宇宙恐怕会终于冰川。他们研究了几十颗爆炸星（也被称为超新星）发现，宇宙的膨胀速度正在不断加快。这个发现让获奖者自己都大为惊讶。

In 1998, cosmology was shaken at its foundations as two research teams presented their findings. Headed by Saul Perlmutter, one of the teams had set to work in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team, launched at the end of 1994, where Adam Riess was to play a crucial role.

1998年，两只研究小队所展示的成果让宇宙学的根基发生了动摇。其中一支队伍由萨尔·波尔马特领衔，从1988年开始研究工作；另一支由布莱恩·施密特领衔，从1994年年底开始工作，亚当·里斯在其中扮演了重要角色。

The research teams raced to map the Universe by locating the most distant supernovae. More sophisticated telescopes on the ground and in space, as well as more powerful computers and new digital imaging sensors (CCD, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009), opened the possibility in the 1990s to add more pieces to the cosmological puzzle.

研究队伍用定位距离地球最远的超新星的办法来绘制宇宙地图。到了20世纪90年代，更精密的陆地和太空望眼镜装置、更强大的计算机系统以及全新的数字成像传感器（CCD, 2009年获得了诺贝尔物理学奖），为人类拼制宇宙这副拼图提供了可能性。

The teams used a particular kind of supernova, called type Ia supernova. It is an explosion of an old compact star that is as heavy as the Sun but as small as the Earth. A single such supernova can emit as much light as a whole galaxy. All in all, the two research teams found over 50 distant supernovae whose light was weaker than expected - this was a sign that the expansion of the Universe was accelerating. The potential pitfalls had been numerous, and the scientists found reassurance in the fact that both groups had reached the same astonishing conclusion.

研究队伍用一种Ia型超新星做研究。Ia型超新星是由像太阳一样重却像地球一样小的致密星爆炸而成，这样一颗超新星所发射出的光和整个银河系一样多。总而言之，两支队伍发现了超过50颗遥远超新星，它们所发射出的光不如预计的那么明亮，这就意味着宇宙的膨胀速度正在加快。研究过程中存在很多潜在的缺陷，但是两支队伍得出了同样惊人的结论，这让科学家们对自己的研究结果比较放心。

For almost a century, the Universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. However, the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the Universe will end in ice.

近一个世纪以来，人类知道宇宙因为140亿年左右前的那次大爆炸而在膨胀。然后，宇宙膨胀速度正在加快的发现让世人震惊。如果膨胀速度持续加快，那么宇宙将会终结于冰川。

The acceleration is thought to be driven by dark energy, but what that dark energy is remains an enigma - perhaps the greatest in physics today. What is known is that dark energy constitutes about three quarters of the Universe. Therefore the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again.

研究者们认为是暗能量推动宇宙膨胀速度加快，但是暗能量究竟是什么仍然是个未知数——也许这是当今物理学界的最大难题。我们唯一知道的是宇宙的四分之三由暗能量所组成。所以说，2011年诺贝尔物理学奖的研究结果最大程度上揭示了一个科学界所不知道的宇宙。而今，一切又皆有可能。