Fundamental Forces
Witten is the Charles Simonyi Professor of Mathematical Physics in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, a private, independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. Founded in 1930, the institute’s first professors included Albert Einstein and John von Neumann.
Witten has more in common with Einstein than his association with the institute. Renowned for his contributions to String Theory - the framework physicists have sought to unify the four fundamental forces of nature - gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force and the weak force - into one mathematical picture. He is considered by many to be the successor to Einstein.
String Theory unites quantum mechanics - the basis for understanding the world of individual particles, protons, neutrons and electrons - with general relativity or Einstein’s theory of gravity, the basic theory for understanding the universe at large. If successful, String Theory would provide the much sought after complete unification of physics, the so-called “Theory of Everything.”
String theorists propose that tiny, high-dimensional strings, closed into loops, vibrate to produce the various components of matter. Many physicists believe the mathematics describing these strings may one day prove to be the key to one of the main puzzles of physics: the relationship of gravity to other known natural forces.
Witten is the recipient of many honors and awards, including mathematics’ highest prize, the Fields Medal, a MacArthur Fellowship, the Einstein Medal, the Dirac Medal and the Alan T. Waterman Award of the National Science Foundation. Last November, he received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for researchers in fields of science and engineering.
He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Physical Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a board member of Americans for Peace Now. The author of nearly 200 scientific papers, Witten is also a co-author of “Superstring Theory” (Cambridge University Press).
A native of Baltimore, Witten was born in 1951 and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1976. He was a fellow at Harvard University (1976-1980) and a professor at Princeton University (1980-87) before becoming a member of the permanent faculty at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1987.
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USC in the News
for 2/8/2012 »-
The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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