Nobel prize is the most reputed award given in the field of scientific innovation. Nobel prize was first awarded in 1901, and since then it is given in leading discoveries in science and human development. Following are the main categories of Nobel prizes- Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2024
This year, Nobel prize in Physics 2024, has been awarded to
- John Hopfield (American physicist and emeritus professor of Princeton University)
- Geoffrey Hinton (British Canadian Computer scientist in artificial neural networks. Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto)
Nobel prize in Physics is awarded for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.
John Hopfield research work
John Hopfield has worked in the field of artificial neural network.
Hopfield network
John Hopfield created an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data. It is combination of physics, biology and neuroscience approaches to probe the brain, developing neural networks to explain how the brain recalls memories. Hopfield network is a form of recurrent neural network, or a spin glass system that can store and retrieve patterns, and is used for content-addressable memory. The Hopfield network, consists of a single layer of neurons, where each neuron is connected to every other neuron except itself.
The Hopfield network utilises physics that describes a material’s characteristics due to its atomic spin – a property that makes each atom a tiny magnet. The network as a whole is described in a manner equivalent to the energy in the spin system found in physics, and is trained by finding values for the connections between the nodes so that the saved images have low energy. When the Hopfield network is fed a distorted or incomplete image, it methodically works through the nodes and updates their values so the network’s energy falls. The network thus works stepwise to find the saved image that is most like the imperfect one it was fed with.
Geoffrey Hinton research work
Geoffrey Hinton is known as pioneer in the field of AI (Artificial Intelligence).
Hinton was selected for the award for his use of the Hopfield network as the foundation for a new network called the Boltzmann machine that can learn to recognize elements within a given type of data.
The Boltzmann machine can classify images and generate new examples of the pattern on which it was trained, with Hinton and his graduate students later building on this work to help usher in today’s rapid development of machine learning – a technology that now underpins a host of applications ranging from large language models such as ChatGPT to self-driving cars.
Hinton used tools from statistical physics, the science of systems built from many similar components. The machine is trained by feeding it examples that are very likely to arise when the machine is run. The Boltzmann machine can be used to classify images or create new examples of the type of pattern on which it was trained. Hinton has built upon this work, helping initiate the current explosive development of machine learning.
End note
In the 21st century, we have seen how AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Machine learning have rapidly spread across scientific and industrial scale. Invention of AI was surely the greatest accomplishment of late century, and Nobel prize for physics 2024 recognize the importance of this important phenomenon.
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