STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- A University of Chicago professor has won a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize in physics.

American Yoichiro Nambu (YOH'-sheer-oh NAHM'-boo) won half of the prize for the discovery of a mechanism called spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics.

The 87-year-old Nambu was born in Japan, moved to the United States in 1952 and became a U.S. citizen in 1970. He's worked at the University of Chicago for 40 years.

Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa share the other half of the prize for discovering the origin of the broken symmetry that predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature.

The award announced today includes a $1.4 million purse, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm on December 10th.

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