't Hooft, Gerard

Gerard 't Hooft is a Dutch theoretical physicist renowned for his work in quantum field theory. He made significant contributions to understanding the fundamental forces of nature, particularly the weak and electromagnetic forces, by demonstrating how they unify through a process called gauge symmetry. His insights helped develop the Standard Model of particle physics. In 1999, he shared the Nobel Prize with Martinus Veltman for revealing how certain particles acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism, which is crucial for explaining how particles behave. His work has profoundly shaped modern physics and our understanding of the universe's fundamental structure.