This scientific milestone, in which Martínez-Pinedo was involved in a leading role, is considered to be the birth of multi-messenger astronomy, which opens up completely new scientific possibilities. Physicist Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo's work has helped to solve one of the biggest unsolved problems in physics in the 21st century: Where does nature produce heavy elements, such as the noble metals gold or platinum? Together with other scientists including Professor Almudena Arcones from Darmstadt, Martínez-Pinedo showed that these elements are created during the merger of neutron stars and that this process produces a distinct electromagnetic signal, a light curve, for which Martínez-Pinedo and colleagues created the term "kilonova." In 2017, such a kilonova was observed for the first time, simultaneously by the "messengers" of light and gravitational waves.
He researches and teaches at the Institute for Nuclear Physics at the TU Darmstadt and at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt. Martínez-Pinedo is award for his outstanding work at the interface between astrophysics, nuclear physics and neutrino physics. This is most important and highest endowed German research prize. Professor Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo will receive the 2022 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). This press release is based on an press release of TU Darmstadt
Otto / GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung