Nobel Prize in Physics 1978

Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa

Photo: Nikolai Lavrentiev. Nobel Foundation archive

Prize share: 1/2

Arno Allan Penzias

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/4

Robert Woodrow Wilson

Photo: Harris & Ewing. Nobel Foundation archive

Prize share: 1/4

The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978 was divided, one half awarded to Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa "for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics", the other half jointly to Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson "for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation"

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Fri. 5 Dec 2025. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1978/summary/>

Go to the top of the page

Streams during Nobel Week

Coming up

Watch the 2025 Nobel Prize lectures, Nobel Week Dialogue, the prize award ceremonies in Oslo and Stockholm and Nobel Peace Prize Forum here at nobelprize.org.

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.