The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to scientists Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi for their "groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems," according to the award-giving committee.

"Complex systems are characterised by randomness and disorder and are difficult to understand," the Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

"This year's Prize recognises new methods for describing them and predicting their long-term behaviour."

Professor Manabe, who is 90 years old, is a US citizen. Professor Parisi is of Italian descent, while Professor Hasselmann is of German descent.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences bestows the renowned prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns (€988,265).

Following the discovery of temperature and touch receptors in the skin by Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, physics is the second Nobel Prize to be presented this week.

The Nobel awards were established in 1901 by the will of Swedish dynamite inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel and have been granted with only a few interruptions, mainly owing to two world wars.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there will be no dinner in Stockholm this year, as there was last year. The medals and diplomas will be presented to the laureates in their home countries.

The physics prize announcement will be followed by those for chemistry, literature, peace, and economics in the following days.

Physics has historically taken center stage among the Nobel Prizes, with rewards frequently going to fundamental advancements in our knowledge of the universe.

Albert Einstein and Pierre and Marie Curie, a husband-and-wife duo, were previous winners.

Scientists Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel, and Andrea Ghez shared the Nobel Prize in Physics last year on black holes.