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Frank Wilczek

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Frank Wilczek <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:FrankStockholm2004.jpg
Frank Wilczek</td></tr>
Born May 15, 1951
Mineola, New York, USA

<tr><th>Residence</th><td>USA Image:Flag of the United States.svg</td></tr><tr><th>Nationality</th><td>American Image:Flag of the United States.svg</td></tr><tr><th>Field</th><td>Physicist</td></tr><tr><th>Institution</th><td>MIT</td></tr><tr><th>Alma Mater</th><td>University of Chicago</br> Princeton University</td></tr><tr><th>Academic Advisor</th><td>David Gross</td></tr><tr><th>Notable Students</th><td>Stephen Wandzura</br>David Kessler</br>Richard MacKenzie</br>Alfred Shapere</br>David Robertson</br>Finn Larsen</br>Maulik Parikh</br>Michael Forbes</br>Sean Robinson</td></tr><tr><th>Known for</th><td>Quantum chromodynamics</td></tr><tr><th>Notable Prizes</th><td>Nobel Prize in Physics (2004)</td></tr><tr><th>Religion</th><td>Lapsed Roman Catholic</td></tr>

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

[edit] 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).

[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--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:

[edit] Trivia

In early 2005, he appeared on an episode of Penn & Teller's Showtime skepticism program, Bullshit. The episode was about ghost hunters, and Dr. Wilczek was an expert used to refute paranormal pseudoscience.

[edit] Selected publications

[edit] 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

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Nobel Prize in Physics: Laureates

2006: Mather, Smoot 2005: Glauber, Hall, Hänsch 2004: Gross, Politzer, Wilczek 2003: Abrikosov, Ginzburg, Leggett 2002: Davis, Koshiba, Giacconi 2001: Cornell, Ketterle, Wieman 2000: Alferov, Kroemer, Kilby
Full list of laureates

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