Distinguished Professor awarded Galileo Galilei Medal
Pierre Sikivie, recently retired Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Florida, has been selected as one of 2 recipients of the Galileo Galilei Medal for 2025. The prize is presented every 2 years by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) with the Galileo Institute (GGI), its National Centre for Theoretical Physics in partnership with the University of Florence, to researchers who have made an outstanding and seminal contribution to the advancement of research in theoretical physics.
The prize was awarded to Leonard Susskind (Stanford University) and Pierre Sikivie ‘for their work representing humanity’s persistent efforts to see and understand what may seem invisible, revealing in the process deep connections between the largest and smallest scales of Nature.’
Specifically, Pierre Sikivie made pioneering contributions to our understanding of the cosmos, as did Galileo Galilei, in trying to make the ‘invisible axion’ visible. Axions are hypothetical particles initially introduced to solve a problem in the microscopic realm of the theory of strong interactions. If their existence were confirmed, one of the greatest mysteries of our universe could be solved, namely, the nature of dark matter could be revealed, and a fundamental mystery concerning the quarks of the subatomic world would also be clarified.
“It is an amazing honor for me to receive the Galileo Galilei Medal from the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare,” said Sikivie. “I have had many occasions to admire the creativity and productivity of the Italian physics community, its passion, camaraderie and sense of tradition. Thinking of my many Italian friends the award is particularly meaningful for me. And of course, Galileo is the founding figure in our field. Thank you for this great award!”
“This year’s prize highlights the deep connections between microcosm and macrocosm, which originate from the exploration of the mysteries of fundamental interactions and link particle physics to astrophysics and cosmology,” remarks Fulvio Piccinini, director of GGI, congratulating the winners. “Sikivie’s work on axions has been fundamental both in elucidating the role of these particles as candidates for solving the problem of dark matter in the Universe and in identifying new investigation methods for their experimental detection. On the other hand, Susskind has made fundamental contributions to the study of quantum aspects of black holes, revealing deep connections between the physics of fundamental interactions, quantum information and complexity.”
Born in Belgium, Pierre Sikivie obtained his Ph.D. from Yale University and held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Maryland, SLAC and CERN before joining the faculty in Florida. He is a recipient of the J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Physics of the American Physical Society, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Galileo Galilei Medal
INFN founded the “Galileo Galilei Medal” award in honor of the father of the scientific method and of modern physics. The award was created in 2018 when the GGI was established as an INFN National Centre for Advanced Studies, in partnership with the University of Florence. Starting from 2019, the Galileo Galilei Medal is assigned every two years by an international selection committee appointed by INFN. The medal is awarded to scientists (three at most) who, in the 25 years before the date of the award, have achieved outstanding results in the areas of theoretical physics of interest to INFN, such as fundamental interactions among elementary particles, including gravity and nuclear phenomena.
