Brian Paul Schmidt
active c. 1967, Missoula, Montana, USA
American-Australian astrophysicist who led the High-z Supernova Search Team, co-discoverer of the accelerating universe.
After his Harvard PhD, Schmidt moved to the Australian National University and formed the High-z team in 1994. Using type Ia supernovae as distance markers, his group — with independent analysis by Adam Riess — concluded in 1998 that the universe's expansion is speeding up. He later served as ANU vice-chancellor (2016–2023).
Nobel-winning work
Riess's analysis and the High-z team's supernova data led by Schmidt showed the universe at redshift ~0.5 is dimmer than a decelerating model predicts. Accelerating expansion implies a gravity-opposing component — dark energy — dominating the cosmic fate, later confirmed by the CMB and galaxy surveys.
Workplaces: Australian National University
United States, Australia