Editing Nobel Prize in Physics (section)

== Nomination and selection ==
{{main|List of nominees for the Nobel Prize in Physics}}

[[File:Portrait of Albert Einstein and Others (1879-1955), Physicist - Restoration1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Three Nobel Laureates in Physics. Front row L-R: [[Albert Abraham Michelson|Albert A. Michelson]] (1907 laureate), [[Albert Einstein]] (1921 laureate), and [[Robert Andrews Millikan|Robert A. Millikan]] (1923 laureate).]]
A maximum of three [[Nobel laureate]]s and two different works may be selected for the Nobel Prize in Physics.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ | title=Facts and figures | access-date=4 May 2015 | author=Nobelprize.org | archive-date=15 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815045159/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Compared with other Nobel Prizes, the nomination and selection process for the prize in physics is long and rigorous. This is a key reason why it has grown in importance over the years to become the most important prize in Physics.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416856/Nobel-Prize#toc93433 | title=The Nobel Prize Selection Process | publisher=Britannica Encyclopaedia | access-date=4 May 2015 | archive-date=29 April 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429230820/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/416856/Nobel-Prize#toc93433 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The Nobel laureates are selected by the [[Nobel Committee for Physics]], a [[Nobel Committee]] that consists of five members elected by [[The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. During the first stage which begins in September, a group of about 3,000 selected university professors, Nobel Laureates in Physics and Chemistry, and others are sent confidential nomination forms. The completed forms must arrive at the Nobel Committee by 31 January of the following year. The nominees are scrutinized and discussed by experts and are narrowed to approximately fifteen names. The committee submits a report with recommendations on the final candidates to the Academy, where, in the Physics Class, it is further discussed. The Academy then makes the final selection of the Laureates in Physics by a majority vote.<ref name="Nomination">{{cite web|title=Nomination and Selection of Physics Laureates|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/physics/|website=nobelprize.org|publisher=Nobel Media AB 2016|access-date=6 October 2016|archive-date=20 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520144235/https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/physics/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Abdus Salam 1987.jpg|thumb|left|[[Abdus Salam]] – 1979 laureate]]

The names of the nominees are never publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the Prize. Nomination records are sealed for fifty years.<ref name="fiftyyearsrule">{{cite web | url=http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_intro/nomination_secrecy/ | title=50 year secrecy rule | access-date=6 May 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501054903/http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/nomination_intro/nomination_secrecy/ | archive-date=1 May 2015 }}</ref> While posthumous nominations are not permitted, awards can be made if the individual died in the months between the decision of the committee (typically in October) and the ceremony in December. Prior to 1974, [[Posthumous award|posthumous awards]] were permitted if the candidate had died after being nominated.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/statutes.html#par4 | title=About posthumous awards | access-date=4 May 2015 | archive-date=24 July 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724075738/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/statutes.html#par4 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The rules for the Nobel Prize in Physics require that the significance of achievements being recognized has been "tested by time". In practice, that means that the lag between the discovery and the award is typically on the order of 20 years and can be much longer. For example, half of the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]] for his work on stellar structure and evolution that was done during the 1930s. As a downside of this tested-by-time rule, not all scientists live long enough for their work to be recognized. Some important scientific discoveries are never considered for a prize, as the discoverers have died by the time the impact of their work is appreciated.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11192-009-0035-9 |title=Why it has become more difficult to predict Nobel Prize winners: A bibliometric analysis of nominees and winners of the chemistry and physics prizes (1901–2007) |date=2009 |last1=Gingras |first1=Yves |last2=Wallace |first2=Matthew L. |journal=Scientometrics |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=401|arxiv=0808.2517 |s2cid=23293903 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Nature Chemistry |doi=10.1038/nchem.372|bibcode = 2009NatCh...1..509.|title=A noble prize|date=2009|volume=1|issue=7|pages=509|pmid=21378920 |doi-access=free}}</ref>