諾獎得主Andrea Ghez：每一個挑戰都是機遇_風聞
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中文譯文
我非常高興受邀參加今年的“科學探索獎”頒獎典禮。我特別向今天在座這些做出開創性研究的青年科學家表示祝賀，同時，也對獎項發起人表示敬意。我是加州大學洛杉磯分校銀河系中心研究組主任、物理與天文學教授、2020年諾貝爾物理學獎獲得者安德烈婭·蓋茲（Andrea Ghez）。
今天，我很榮幸與各位優秀的青年科學家共慶，並分享我早年的經歷。這些經歷激勵我成為一位天體物理學家，並專注於宇宙研究。
我最早的記憶之一是關於50年前的人類首次登月，那時我才四歲。據家人回憶，當時我宣佈：我要成為第一位登月的女性。雖然這個目標至今仍未實現，但卻激發了我對宇宙的好奇心，尤其是讓我開始思考“時間是否有起點和終點”、“太空是否有邊界”這些問題。坦率地説，這些問題曾讓我夜不能寐。
在我很小的時候，父母就經常鼓勵我要勇於探索。這些在成長過程中不斷引導我們的人，是非常重要的。一路走來，我也有幸得到了很多良師的指引。在與我的博士生導師格里·諾伊格鮑爾（Gerry Neugebauer）合作時，他教會了我很多，其中有兩點尤為重要：
首先，數據的重要性。請永遠相信數據，並確保數據分析的完整性和真實性，因為數據是開啓科學探索的“鑰匙”。
其次，每一個挑戰都是機遇。直到今天，我都一直深受這句話的影響。因為早年的一些經歷，讓我體會到，挑戰是可以轉化為機遇的，你需要不斷調整自己，來尋找解決問題的新方法。也就是，學着轉變思維方式，把對困難的牴觸轉化為挑戰它的激情，最終去把握自己真正想要的東西。
我最重要的科研成果，是在銀河系的中心發現了超大質量黑洞。二十六年前，我剛加入加州大學洛杉磯分校的時候，就開始了這項研究。研究過程中，我對凱克天文台（Keck Observatory）產生了濃厚的興趣，因為那裏有全世界最大的望遠鏡設備。我可以用全新的、不同的方式來使用這台望遠鏡，從而獲得極為清晰的圖像，分辨率超過此前所有地基或空間望遠鏡的觀測。做這項研究是為了回答一個問題：在銀河系的中心，是否存在着一個超大質量黑洞？
目前，黑洞是一個非常前沿的領域，因為我們不夠了解、也沒有物理定律來描述它。黑洞是什麼呢？是空間一個很小的區域，但引力卻大到任何物體都無法逃逸，即使光也不行，而它卻沒有尺寸。試想一下，質量除以體積得到密度，黑洞的密度將無限大，因為它沒有大小。在物理學中，這樣的無限被稱為奇點。在那裏，我們無法詮釋它的物理世界。
所以，我們證明黑洞存在的方法是，找到銀河系中心的恆星，並追蹤它們的運動。這些恆星繞着銀河系中心的運動，就好比行星繞着太陽在運動。利用那些軌道定律和我們的測量方法，我們證實了銀河系中心確實存在着超大質量黑洞——用可信度提高了千萬倍的實測證據，把超大質量黑洞的想法從可能變成了確定。
千萬倍的提升會帶來鉅變。這種鉅變得益於我們所採用的技術與方法更加先進，使得我們能夠以嶄新的、不同的方式來探知宇宙。這種測定恆星軌道的新方法，為研究超大質量黑洞開闢了一條令人興奮的新途徑。
令人欣喜的是，新技術為我們展示了這樣一個環境：在這裏，我們所做的幾乎每一項預測，都與觀測結果不符。作為科學家，這時的我就好像走進糖果店的孩子，那種對新鮮事物的好奇，讓我非常快樂。
目前還有很多未知等待我們的解答，我最感興趣的問題之一是“引力如何工作？”。換言之，愛因斯坦的廣義相對論在超大質量黑洞的周圍是否依舊適用？又或者，我們需要用新的引力模型來替代或拓展它？顯然，這一切都將隨着新的技術不斷拓展。
這些工作都需要得到充分的支持，尤其在資金方面。我還想特別強調，在我職業生涯中期獲得的支持，那是一個特別重要的階段，也是科學家逐漸塑造科研領導力最重要的時期。這個階段得到的認可和支持，能夠幫助那些有抱負、有遠見的科學家，潛心去做那些極具探索性的科研項目。所以，祝賀今天在座的各位獲獎人，在科研道路上一個非常重要的階段，得到了很好的支持。
在太空探索方面，中國正發揮着重要的作用。從探月探火到建設空間站，中國即將進入激動人心的階段。展望未來，我最期待的項目之一，就是三十米望遠鏡（TMT）國際天文台項目，它是由加州大學和中國等多個合作伙伴共同推進的。這個項目將為我們觀察宇宙的方式帶來根本改變，並促使各國科學家，從不同角度參與到國際合作中來。
“科學探索獎”為青年科學家的成長提供了非常重要的平台，為你們的科研事業帶來了難得的機遇。最後，我想給在座各位獲獎的科學家分享我的一些建議。在這個職業發展的關鍵時刻，想要把握機會，你們需要思考這三個問題：
第一，你真正想做的是什麼？你對什麼充滿激情？你享受什麼？
第二，如何開闊視野，勇於在科學“無人區”不斷探索？這些未知領域可能將是你們未來工作的核心。
第三，如何培養下一代的科研人才，併為他們創造機會，成為未來的引領者？
最後，再次祝賀“科學探索獎”的獲獎者！
英文全文
I’m delighted to be here to welcome all those attending this year’s XPLORER PRIZE ceremony, and in particular those young trailblazing scientists who are being recognized today, as well as the founding members who made this prize possible. I’m Andrea Ghez, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Director of the UCLA Galactic Center Group, and a 2020 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Today we are celebrating some aspirational young scientists, and I’m really deeply honored to be able to share some of my early experiences that enabled me to become an astrophysicist and study the universe.
One of my earliest memories is that of the first moon landings that happened 50 years ago. I was four years old at the time, and according to the family legend, I announced that I wanted to be the first woman on the moon. The job’s still open. But what it really did for me was to open up my curiosity about the universe, and in particular to start thinking about questions that have to do with the beginning and end of time, and the edge of space. These questions that quite frankly kept me up at night.
The other thing that this story reminds me is of how important my parents were in encouraging me to be an explorer, early on. Those people who are guiders or provide that guidance are so important to us. Along the way, I’ve been really fortunate to be guided by many good mentors, and began working with Gerry Neugebauer, my PhD advisor. Gerry taught me many, many things, but the two in particular that I remember the most are:
First, the data, the importance of the data, to always trust the data and take great care to have integrity and authenticity about your analysis of the data, because it’s the data that really contain the keys to the scientific discovery.
The second lesson that he taught me was every challenge is an opportunity. For this today, I’ve had many lessons, but the one at the time, which was one of my first ones, where I really learned the beauty of understanding that a challenge is an opportunity and learn to reposition myself, so that I could make a change that would really open up doors or avenues. At this point I think this is where I really understand how to make the shift, how to really capture something that gives you great discomfort and translate that into a passion or capture what you really want to accomplish.
I’m best known for the discovery of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. I started this work when I first joined the faculty at UCLA twenty-six years ago. And what I was particularly attracted by was Keck Observatory, UC co-owned this facility, the largest facility in the world. And what I was interested in doing was using this telescope in a new and different way and in particular, to take the sharpest images ever obtained from ground or space. And the goal of this work was to answer the question: Is there a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy?
Now black holes really represent the frontier of our knowledge, because we don’t know, we don’t have the physics to describe them. You know what is a black hole? A black hole is a region of space that’s so small, that the pull of gravity is so intense that nothing can escape it, not even light, but it has no finite size. So, if you think about mass divided by volume, which is density, that density goes to infinity because it has no finite size. And in physics, whenever something goes to infinity, it’s known as a singularity, which is like a red arrow that says you do not have your description of the physical world, right here.
So, our technique to prove that this black hole really exists is to discover stars that are right at the heart of the galaxy, and to measure how they move, and their motion around the center of the galaxy is dictated by the same laws of physics that dictate how the planets revolve around or orbit around the sun. Using those laws, and our measurements, we demonstrated that a supermassive black hole does exist at the center of our galaxy and in fact, move the idea of supermassive black holes from a possibility to a certainty by increasing the evidence by a factor of 10 million.
If you could do increase it by a factor of 10 million, that’s a real transformation. And that transformation is possible because of advancements in our technology, and our methodologies that move our ability to see the universe forward in a new and different way. This kind of work, our ability to measure the orbits of stars, has opened up a new and exciting way to study supermassive black holes.
And one of the delightful things about new technology is it showing us an environment in which almost every prediction we could make about what should be there, is inconsistent with the observations. For me as a scientist, this is like being a kid in a candy shop, there’s so much more to do.
One of my favorite questions that we’re pursuing today, is the question of “how does gravity work?”. In other words, is Einstein’s ideas about the theory of general relativity correct in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole? Or do we need to replace it or expand it with a new model for gravity? And all of this, of course, will continue to be expanded with new technology.
All of this work takes tremendous support, and in particular tremendous financial support. I’d also like to particularly highlight the support that I got at the mid-career stage, because that’s a particularly important stage, and one that’s being recognized here. This is a critical phase of people’s career development. It’s the moment in which people are stepping into scientific leadership roles. And this kind of recognition enables those people who have the ambition and the vision to accomplish truly large projects. So today I think we’re applauding an investment in a really important stage of scientific development.
China has clearly posed to play a huge role in space exploration. From the lunar lander to the Mars mission to a permanent space station, it’s clear that China is going to have a tremendously exciting year…Moving forward, one of the projects that I’m most excited about is actually a collaboration between the University of California and China, along with many, many other partners. This is the project of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) International Observatory. It’s going to fundamentally change the way we see the universe, and it’s going to force scientists to think about really engaging at a different level and in particular, with international collaborations.
THE XPLORER PRIZE is an incredibly important opportunity for cultivating young talent. For those recipients of this award today, it will change the course of what they’re capable of doing. For those scientists who are receiving this award today, I’d like to end by offering you a piece of advice. At this juncture where your opportunities are really changing, try to assess three things.
First, what is it that you really want to do, that you understand today? What is it that you have passion for? What is it that you have an enjoyment for?
Second, what is it that you can do to really expand your horizons to take risks in new directions, that will really help you understand the things you have an experience? That may be the core of your future.
And the third is, how can you invest in the next generation to open the opportunities up for their future, so that they can become the next generation of leaders?
So congratulations, THE XPLORER PRIZE winners.
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