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Frank Wilczek
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Frank Wilczek (born May 15, 1951) is a Nobel prize-winning American theoretical physicist. Along with H. David Politzer and David Gross, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction".
Contents
- 1 Life
- 2 Research
- 3 Trivia
- 4 Selected publications
- 5 Books
- 6 See also
- 7 External links
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Life
Born in Mineola, New York, of Polish and Italian origin, Wilczek was educated in the public schools of Queens, attending Van Buren High School. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the University of Chicago in 1970, a Master of Arts in Mathematics at Princeton University, 1972, and a Ph.D. in Physics at Princeton University in 1974. Frank Wilczek holds the Herman Feshbach Professorship of Physics at MIT Center for Theoretical Physics. He worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 2002.
He married
Betsy Devine on
July 3,
1973; they have two children, Amity (born 9/3/74) and Mira (born 1/18/82).
Research
In 1973 Wilczek, a graduate student working with David Gross at Princeton University, discovered asymptotic freedom, which holds that the closer quarks are to each other, the less the strong interaction (or color charge) between them; when quarks are in extreme proximity, the nuclear force between them is so weak that they behave almost as free particles. The theory--independently discovered by H. David Politzer--was important for the development of quantum chromodynamics.
Wilczek has helped to reveal and develop axions, anyons, asymptotic freedom, the color superconducting phases of quark matter, and other aspects of quantum field theory. He has worked on an unusually wide range of topics, ranging across condensed matter physics, astrophysics, and particle physics.
His current research includes:
Trivia
In early 2005, he appeared on an episode of
Penn & Teller's Showtime skepticism program,
Bullshit! (Season 3, episode 10,
"Ghostbusters"). The episode was about ghost hunters, and Wilczek was an expert used to refute paranormal pseudoscience by explaining the scientific skepticism about the existence of
ghosts and "haunting." His statement on the show was,
"When the physical operation of the brain and other parts of the body stop, there's no known or credible mechanism whereby what used to be going on [in the brain] can continue to affect the physical world.".
Selected publications
Books
- Fractional Statistics and Anyon Superconductivity, December 1990
- Geometric Phases in Physics, December 1988
- Longing for the Harmonies: Themes and Variations in Modern Physics, April 1989 (with Betsy Devine)
- Fantastic Realities: 49 Mind Journeys And a Trip to Stockholm, March 2006
- La musica del vuoto. 2007, Roma, Di Renzo Editore
See also
