Frank Wilczek

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Frank Wilczek

Born May 15, 1951 (1951-05-15) (age 57)
Mineola, New York, U.S.
Nationality United States
Fields Physics
Institutions MIT
Alma mater University of Chicago
Princeton University
Doctoral advisor David Gross
Doctoral students Mark Alford (*)
Michael Forbes
Martin Greiter
Christoph Holzhey
David Kessler
Finn Larsen
Richard MacKenzie
John March-Russell (*)
Chetan Nayak
Maulik Parikh
Krishna Rajagopal
David Robertson
Sean Robinson
Alfred Shapere
Stephen Wandzura
(*): Jointly a Sidney Coleman student
Known for Quantum chromodynamics
Notable awards Lorentz Medal (2002)
Nobel Prize in Physics (2004)

Frank Anthony Wilczek (born May 15, 1951) is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate. He is a member of the World Knowledge Dialogue Scientific Board, and is currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wilcek along with H. David Politzer and David Gross were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for their discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction.

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[edit] Biography

Born in Mineola, New York, of Polish and Italian origin, Wilczek was educated in the public schools of Queens, attending Martin 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. 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 Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 2002.

Wilczek was married to Betsy Devine on July 3, 1973, and together have two daughters, Amity and Mira.

[edit] 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, which was 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.

Current research

[edit] Publications

[edit] Bibliography

  • 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

[edit] See also

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[edit] References

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Nobel Laureates in Physics
Persondata
NAME Wilczek, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Physicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Mineola, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Wilczek"
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