| Edward Witten | |
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| Born | August 26, 1951  Baltimore, Maryland |
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| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Theoretical physicist |
| Institutions | Institute for Advanced Study |
| Alma mater | Brandeis University |
| Doctoral advisor | David Gross  |
| Known for | string theory, M-theory, quantum field theory |
| Notable awards | Fields Medal (1990) Crafoord Prize (2008) |
Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton New Jersey, United States is a center for theoretical research Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval Brandeis University is a private research University with a Liberal arts focus located in Waltham Massachusetts, United States. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement David Jonathan Gross (born February 19, 1941 in Washington DC String theory is a still-developing scientific approach to Theoretical physics, whose original building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings In Theoretical physics, M-theory is a new limit of String theory in which 11 dimensions of Spacetime may be identified In quantum field theory (QFT the forces between particles are mediated by other particles The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two three or four Mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical The annual Crafoord Prize is a science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton New Jersey, United States is a center for theoretical research He is one of the world's leading researchers in superstring theory. See also String theory Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and Fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modelling He has made extensive contributions to theoretical physics, and in 1990 he was awarded the Fields Medal for his influence on the development of mathematics. Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two three or four Mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical In 1995, he suggested the existence of M-theory at a conference at the University of Southern California, and used M-theory to explain a number of previously observed dualities, sparking a flurry of new research in string theory called the second superstring revolution. In Theoretical physics, M-theory is a new limit of String theory in which 11 dimensions of Spacetime may be identified The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly The second superstring revolution was the intense wave of breakthroughs in String theory that took place approximately between 1994 and 1997.
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Birth and education
Edward Witten was born in Baltimore, Maryland [1] to a Jewish family, the son of Lorraine W. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Witten and Louis Witten, a physicist specializing in gravitation and general relativity. Louis Witten is an American theoretical physicist and the father of Edward Witten. A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning Gravitation is a natural Phenomenon by which objects with Mass attract one another General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of Gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916 He received his bachelor's degree in history (with a minor in linguistics) from Brandeis University. A bachelor's degree is usually an Undergraduate Academic degree awarded for a course or major that generally lasts for three four or in some cases and Brandeis University is a private research University with a Liberal arts focus located in Waltham Massachusetts, United States. Witten planned to become a political journalist, and published articles in The New Republic and The Nation. The New Republic ( TNR) is an American Magazine of politics and the arts This article is about the US Publication. For other newspapers magazines and alternate uses by the same name see The Nation (disambiguation. He worked briefly for George McGovern's presidential campaign. George Stanley McGovern Then, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for one semester as an economics graduate student before dropping out. Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. He then returned to academia, enrolling in applied mathematics at Princeton University before shifting departments and receiving a Ph.D. in physics in 1976 under David Gross, the Nobel laureate in Physics in 2004. Applied mathematics is a branch of Mathematics that concerns itself with the mathematical techniques typically used in the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. David Jonathan Gross (born February 19, 1941 in Washington DC This is a list of Nobel Prize Laureates awarded for their outstanding contributions to Humanitarian causes for Peace, work in Literature Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion.
Academic career
After completing his PhD, he worked at Harvard University as a Junior Fellow and at Princeton as a professor. He was a Professor of Physics at Princeton University from 1980 to 1987. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. He also was briefly at Caltech for two years from 1999 to 2001. The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena He is currently the Charles Simonyi Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Charles Simonyi (Simonyi Károly born September 10 1948 is a Hungarian Computer software executive who as head of Microsoft 's application software The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton New Jersey, United States is a center for theoretical research See also Princeton Township New Jersey, Borough of Princeton New Jersey Princeton Borough New Jersey Princeton Township New Jersey this
Research and achievements
Witten has made extensive contributions to theoretical physics, in work that has spawned a large number of highly mathematical results. Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world He has been active primarily in quantum field theory and string theory, and in related areas of topology and geometry. In quantum field theory (QFT the forces between particles are mediated by other particles String theory is a still-developing scientific approach to Theoretical physics, whose original building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings Topology ( Greek topos, "place" and logos, "study" is the branch of Mathematics that studies the properties of Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position His many contributions include a simplified proof of the positive energy theorem involving spinors in general relativity, his work relating supersymmetry and Morse theory, his introduction of topological quantum field theory and his related work on mirror symmetry and supersymmetric gauge theories, and his conjecture of the existence of M-theory. In General relativity, the positive energy theorem states that assuming the dominant energy condition, the mass of an Asymptotically flat spacetime is In Mathematics and Physics, in particular in the theory of the Orthogonal groups spinors are elements of a complex vector space introduced to expand the In Particle physics, supersymmetry (often abbreviated SUSY) is a Symmetry that relates elementary particles of one spin to another particle that "Morse function" redirects here In another context a "Morse function" can also mean an Anharmonic oscillator. A topological quantum field theory (or topological field theory or TQFT) is a Quantum field theory which computes Topological invariants Mirror symmetry may refer to Mirror symmetry (string theory, a relation between two Calabi-Yau manifolds in string theory Homological mirror Gauge theory is a peculiar Quantum field theory where the Lagrangian is invariant under certain transformations In Theoretical physics, M-theory is a new limit of String theory in which 11 dimensions of Spacetime may be identified
Witten was awarded the Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union in 1990, becoming the first physicist to win the prize. The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two three or four Mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical The International Mathematical Union is an international Non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of Mathematics. Sir Michael Atiyah said of Witten, "Although he is definitely a physicist, his command of mathematics is rivaled by few mathematicians. Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE (b April 22, 1929) is a British Mathematician, and one of the . . Time and again he has surprised the mathematical community by a brilliant application of physical insight leading to new and deep mathematical theorems. . . he has made a profound impact on contemporary mathematics. In his hands physics is once again providing a rich source of inspiration and insight in mathematics. "[2] One such example of his impact on pure mathematics is his framework for understanding the Jones polynomial using Chern-Simons theory. In the mathematical field of Knot theory, the Jones polynomial is a Knot polynomial discovered by Vaughan Jones in 1983 The Chern-Simons theory is a 3-dimensional Topological quantum field theory of Schwarz type, developed by Shiing-Shen Chern and James Harris Simons This had far reaching implications on low-dimensional topology and led to quantum invariants such as the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev invariants. In Mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of Topology that studies Manifolds of four or fewer dimensions The Chern-Simons theory is a 3-dimensional Topological quantum field theory of Schwarz type, developed by Shiing-Shen Chern and James Harris Simons
He is currently working on the possible relations between Gauge theories and Geometric Langlands. Gauge theory is a peculiar Quantum field theory where the Lagrangian is invariant under certain transformations
Personal life
He is married to Chiara Nappi, who is a professor of physics at Princeton University. Chiara R Nappi is an Italian physicist. She obtained her PhD in Physics from the University of Naples in 1976. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. His brother, Matt Witten, is a screenwriter and producer for several popular TV series including L.A. Law and House. Matthew Witten (birth date unknown is the brother of Edward Witten, a String theorist and the founder of M-Theory. LA Law is an American television Legal drama that ran from 1986 to 1994. House, also known as House MD, is an American Medical drama, which debuted on the FOX network on November 16 2004
Awards and honors
Witten has been honored with numerous awards, including a MacArthur Grant (1982), a Fields Medal (1990), the National Medal of Science (2002), and the Crafoord Prize (2008). The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes Nicknamed the "genius grant") is an award given by the John D The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two three or four Mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in Science and Engineering who have made important The annual Crafoord Prize is a science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord Pope Benedict XVI also appointed Witten as a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (2006). Pope Benedict XVI ( Latin: Benedictus PP XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Alois Ratzinger The Pontifical Academy of Sciences was founded by the Roman Catholic Church in 1936 under its current name by Pope Pius XI and is placed under the protection of the He also appeared in the list of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people of 2004. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and In 2000, he was awarded the Nemmers Prize in Mathematics. The Frederic Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics is awarded biennially from Northwestern University.
Trivia
- Witten has the highest h-index of any living physicist;
- Witten was mentioned in a 1999 episode of the cartoon Futurama;
- Witten was mentioned in the 2002 Angel episode "Supersymmetry";
- Witten was mentioned in the comic Ex Machina. The h-index is an index that quantifies both the actual scientific productivity and the apparent scientific impact of a scientist Futurama is an Emmy Award -winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Groening and Angel is an American Television series, a Spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ex Machina is an American creator-owned Comic book series created by Brian K
References
- ^ Jewish Fields Medalists
- ^ Atiyah, Michael (2005). Michael Atiyah: Collected Works: Volume 6. Oxford Science Publications, 209,212. ISBN 978-0198530992.
See also
- Gromov-Witten invariant
- Seiberg–Witten gauge theory
- Seiberg–Witten invariant
- Vafa-Witten theorem
- Weinberg-Witten theorem
- Wess-Zumino-Witten model
- Witten index
External links
- Witten's web page at the Institute
- Publications on ArXiv
- Witten theme tree on arxiv.org
- Futurama episode information
- O'Connor, John J. In Theoretical physics, Seiberg-Witten gauge theory is a set of calculations that determine the low-energy physics &mdash namely the Moduli space and the masses of In mathematics Seiberg–Witten invariants are invariants of compact smooth 4-manifolds introduced by, using the Seiberg-Witten theory studied by during their investigations In Theoretical physics, the Vafa-Witten theorem, named after Cumrun Vafa and Edward Witten, is a Theorem that shows that vector-like (i Steven Weinberg and Edward Witten consider the so-called emergent theories to be misguided In Theoretical physics and Mathematics, the Wess-Zumino-Witten (WZW model, also called the Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten model, is a simple model of In Quantum field theory / Statistical mechanics, the Witten index at the Inverse temperature &beta is defined as a modification of the standard partition & Robertson, Edmund F. , “Edward Witten”, MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
- Edward Witten at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Witten, Edward |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Mathematical physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 26, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore, Maryland |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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