Theoretical Physics · Mathematics
Edward Witten
b. 1951 · Baltimore, USA
Physics so deep it hands mathematicians new theorems.
In string theory a particle is a tiny vibrating string, and each way it can vibrate (each mode) is a different particle. Turn the dial to step through the modes: mode n fits n half-waves and rings n times faster.
01
A late start
He took his first degree in history at Brandeis in 1971, wrote political journalism, and worked on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. He briefly studied economics before switching to physics, and earned his PhD at Princeton in 1976 under David Gross.
02
The physicist with a Fields Medal
His physics kept producing mathematics. Quantum field theory gave a new way to compute knot invariants (the Jones polynomial), and Seiberg–Witten theory in 1994 transformed the study of four-dimensional shapes.
In 1990 he received the Fields Medal, the top prize in mathematics, the first physicist to do so.
03
Five theories become one
By the early 1990s there were five rival string theories. In 1995, at the Strings conference in Los Angeles, he argued that all five are different views of one deeper theory in eleven dimensions, later named M-theory. The burst of work that followed is called the second superstring revolution.
No experiment has yet confirmed string theory. Its mathematics, though, has already reshaped geometry.
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How they thought
Look for the hidden unity
When several theories disagree, ask whether they are faces of one object seen from different sides.
Let physics guess the theorem
Use physical intuition to predict a mathematical result, then let the proofs catch up.
Change fields if the problem demands it
He moved from history to physics and then into pure mathematics, following the questions.
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Timeline
1971
BA in history from Brandeis.
1976
PhD in physics at Princeton.
1980s
Professor at Princeton, then the Institute for Advanced Study.
1989
Links quantum field theory to knot invariants.
1990
Fields Medal.
1994
Seiberg–Witten theory.
1995
Proposes that the five string theories are one: M-theory.
I
Train your brain
Mastered 0 / 6
What did Witten study first?
II
Train the machine
166 lines to learn, 38 held back. Names are removed. Random batches, dropout and noise make each seed take its own path.