Edward Witten by Ethan Chau

Edward Witten

Brief Facts

Born: August 26, 1951 (age 61)

Where: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A

Main Field of Science: Mathematical Physics

Type of Scientist: Theoretical Physicist

Known for: M-Theory, String Theory, Quantum Gravity, Quantum Field Theory, Supersymmetry

By Ethan Chau

Bibliography

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Witten.html

Article used 9/5/13

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Witten

"Birth and Education" section used 9/5/13

www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yXsnTFF-U

Video used 5/5/13

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLZKqGbNfck

Video used 5/5/13

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1BcyxQCnoE

Video used 5/5/13

www.sns.ias.edu/~witten/

Picture used 9/5/13

The Life and Times of Edward Witten (Part 1)

Edward Witten was born into a Jewish family in Baltimore, Maryland to parents Lorraine Witten and Louis Witten, who was another theoretical physicist working on general relativity, and grew up there with his parents, sister Celia and brother Matt. As a young boy he was very interested in maths and science or, to be more specific, Astronomy, as it was the days of the Space Race at the time, and wanted to become an astronomer (although he was reluctant because he thought astronomers all had to go into space, which he thought was a bit scary). Witten’s father encouraged his interests, giving him books, and explaining things to him (Soon, Witten and his father would write a paper together later in the 1990s!).

The Work of Edward Witten (Part 2)

Witten is also working on Supersymmetry, which is a theory representing a symmetry of nature that relates to two classes of particles: bosons and fermions. In Supersymmetry, each particle from one group has a partner from the other, called its superpartner, which differs from the particle by its “spin”, a form of angular momentum in elementary particles. Supersymmetry is, according to results from the Large Hadron Collider, a “spontaneously broken symmetry”. Supersymmetry is only supported by minute evidence, but that evidence still suggests it might be true. If proven to be true, Supersymmetry could help physicists solve many unsolved problems in the Standard Model of Particle Physics, such as the hierarchy problem, and could help physicists further understand the Higgs Field with supersymmetric theory. Quantum Gravity is another of Witten’s contributions. Quantum Gravity is a theory of gravitation which seeks to unify quantum physics with general relativity, one of the main problems in physics, and a key step to creating a Theory of Everything. Quantum Gravity would create, if shown in experiments to be true, a grand unification of the fundamental forces, the electromagnetic force, the two nuclear forces (strong and weak) and gravity. All of his theories and contributions, once proven true, will form a breakthrough in modern physics.

The Life and Times of Edward Witten (Part 2)

Another one of his passions was actually peace in the Middle East, as he spent a year in Israel as a child once, and had a sentimental bond to the Jewish traditions he was raised in. Witten attended the Park School of Baltimore in 1968, and received his Bachelor of Arts at Brandeis University in 1971, with a major in history and a minor in linguistics. He, from there, published articles for several magazines such as The Nation and The New Republic, and even worked briefly for George McGovern’s presidential campaign. e then proceeded to go to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as an economics grad student before dropping out, and enrolling in applied mathematics at Princeton University, where he switched departments and received his Ph.D. in Physics under David Gross in 1976 (who will become a Nobel laureate in Physics in 2004!).

The Life and Times of Edward Witten (Part 3)

The Work of Edward Witten (Part 1)

Edward Witten is known for many theories and works, such as M-Theory and Supersymmetry. His work can be classified in the Physics field of science, or, to be more specific, Theoretical Physics, Quantum Physics and Particle Physics. Witten’s major theories include M-Theory, Supersymmetry, Quantum Gravity, and many more, with M-Theory being one of his most famous. M-Theory is an extension of string theory, a form of particle physics where all point particles are actually made of extremely small quantum strings. M-Theory is a form of string theory where 11 dimensions are needed, including the three, already known spatial dimensions, and the temporal dimension of time. M-Theory also adds something else to string theory – membranes. Membranes in M-Theory replace the fundamental strings in ordinary string theory. They are in all ten spatial dimensions and are the one of the main topics of M-Theory. If proven to be true, M-Theory could advance physics greatly, possibly becoming a “Theory of Everything”, a theory that unifies and fully explains all physical phenomena, predicting the outcome of any experiment that could be carried out in principle. M-Theory is currently being criticized because of the theory being untestable.

Witten held a fellowship at Harvard University, a MacArthur Fellowship, and was a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows. Witten worked in mathematical physics and, in 1990, he received the greatest award a mathematician could ever receive – The Fields Medal. Witten received the medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Kyoto, Japan. In addition to the Fields Medal, Witten has an amazingly long list of awards, such as the Einstein Medal, the Dirac Medal, the Klein Medal and the National Medal of Science, just to name a few. Witten currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with his wife, Chiara Nappi, another physicist at Princeton University. They have two daughters, Daniela and Ilana, one son, Rafael, and a granddaughter, Nava.