Joseph Polchinski
Joseph Polchinski | |
---|---|
Everett phone | |
Awards | Dannie Heineman Prize (2007) Dirac Medal (2008) Breakthrough Prize (2017) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Theoretical physics |
Institutions | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Doctoral advisor | Stanley Mandelstam |
Doctoral students | Robert Leigh |
Joseph Gerard Polchinski Jr.
Biography
Polchinski was born in White Plains, New York, the elder of two children to Joseph Gerard Polchinski Sr. (1929–2002),[5] a financial consultant and manager, and Joan (née Thornton), an office worker and homemaker.[6] Polchinski was primarily of Irish descent with his paternal grandfather being Polish.[7]
Polchinski graduated from
Contributions
Polchinski wrote the two-volume textbook String Theory, published in 1998. Among his many contributions to
D-branes
Polchinski's contributions to
Polchinski's paradox
In an unpublished communication to
2012 paper on black holes
In July 2012, Polchinski, with two of his students, James Sully and Ahmed Almheiri, and fellow string theorist Donald Marolf at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), published a paper[12] whose calculations about black hole radiation suggested that either general relativity's equivalence principle is wrong, or else a key tenet of quantum mechanics is incorrect.[13]
In popular culture
Polchinski was the subject of a running gag on an episode of
Personal life and death
Polchinski had two sons, Steven and Daniel, with his wife, Dorothy Maria Chun, whom he married in 1980.[6]
He died at his home in Santa Barbara, California on February 2, 2018, of
Bibliography
- Polchinski, Joseph (1998a), String Theory Vol. I: An Introduction to the Bosonic String, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-63303-6
- Polchinski, Joseph (1998b), String Theory Vol. II: Superstring Theory and Beyond, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-63304-4
- Polchinski, Joseph (2017), "Memories of a Theoretical Physicist", arXiv:1708.09093 [physics.hist-ph]. Autobiographical memoir.
References
- ^ Polchinski, J. (1995). "Dirichlet branes and Ramond-Ramond charges." Physical Review D, 50(10), R6041–R6045.
- ^ "JOSEPH GERARD POLCHINSKI". Physics History Network.
- ^ Yang, Henry T. (2 February 2018). "Obituary: Professor Emeritus Joseph Polchinski". UC Santa Barbara.
- ^ "Joe Polchinski (1954-2018): La teoría de cuerdas está de luto". La Ciencia de la Mula Francis (in European Spanish). 3 February 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
- ^ "Joseph Gerard Polchinski, Sr". Geni.com. 10 January 1929.
- ^ a b c Overbye, Dennis (7 February 2018). "Joseph Polchinski, 63, Leading Theorist on Multiple Universes, Dies". The New York Times.
- arXiv:1708.09093 [physics.hist-ph].
- ^ "kitp.ucsb.edu". Archived from the original on April 17, 2007.
- ^ "Dirac Medallists 2008 | ICTP". www.ictp.it.
- ^ Leachman, Shelly (December 5, 2016). "Another Major Breakthrough". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-393-31276-3.
- S2CID 55581818.
- PMID 23552926.
External links
- Personal website
- "Joe Polchinski: 2017 Breakthrough Symposium". YouTube. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.