|
"This discovery was
expressed in 1973 in an elegant mathematical framework that led to
a completely new theory, Quantum ChromoDynamics, QCD. This theory
was an important contribution to the Standard Model, the theory
that describes all physics connected with the electromagnetic force
(which acts between charged particles), the weak force (which is
important for the sun's energy production) and the strong force
(which acts between quarks). With the aid of QCD physicists can at
last explain why quarks only behave as free particles at extremely
high energies. In the proton and the neutron they always occur in
triplets," said the Academy.
Wilczek's earliest
work, done with Gross at Princeton in the 1970s, concerned the
change of fundamental couplings with energy. This work led to the
discovery of asymptotic freedom, which makes it possible to
understand the behavior of matter under extreme conditions, such as
occurred in the earliest moments of the Big Bang. Also, it permits
the construction of unified models of particle interactions, which
have concrete predictive power.
Wilczek has been a
leading participant in all these developments. One notable result
of the cosmological work is a compelling explanation of the
asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the present
universe.
In the past few
years, another concept Wilczek discovered and developed, fractional
quantum statistics, has been found to characterize the behavior of
recently discovered states of matter. It is the focal point of much
current activity in condensed matter
physics.
Wilczek's many
awards include the the 2002 Lorentz Medal from the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, which called him "one of
the most influential theoretical physicists of his generation." He
is a member of the American National Academy of Sciences, and has
received the Dirac Medal (1994) and the Michelson-Morley Prize
(2002).
Wilczek was born in
Queens, N.Y. He received his B.S. (1970) from the University of
Chicago and his M.A. (1971) and Ph.D. (1973) from Princeton
University. He later became professor of physics at Princeton and
at the University of California at Santa
Barbara.
He joined the MIT
faculty in 2000 with appointments in the Department of Physics and
the Center for Theoretical Physics. This year he was named one of
five Kavli Scholars through MIT's Center for Space Research, soon
to be renamed the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space
Research. "We love MIT," Devine said in a telephone interview.
"It's been wonderful for Frank and our
family."
Wilczek regularly
speaks and writes on theoretical physics for a wide
audience.
He and his wife live
in Cambridge, Mass. They have two daughters, Amity and Mira. Amity,
who has a Ph.D. from Harvard, is currently a postdoctoral associate
in biology there. Mira, who earned her S.B. from MIT in 2004, works
for IBM in Boston.
--courtesy
of Massachusetts Institute of Technology news office
|
“Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2 asserts
that energy and mass are different aspects of the same reality. It
is usually associated with the idea that small amounts of mass can
be converted into large amounts of energy, as in nuclear reactors
and bombs. For fundamental physics, however, the more important
idea is just the opposite. We want to explain how mass itself
arises, by explaining it in terms of more basic concepts. An
important part of my work has been to show that this goal can, to a
remarkable extent, be achieved. I’ll discuss how—it’s quite
beautiful! I’ll also discuss some of the consequences—an
explanation of why gravity is so feeble, and suggestions for new
physical phenomena at the LHC.”