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IAS News

Institute Scholars Give Talks at Strings 2019

July 15, 2019

The Strings 2019 conference held July 9–13, 2019 in Brussels, Belgium, featured talks with Director Robbert Dijkgraaf; School of Natural Sciences Professors Juan Maldacena, Edward Witten, Nima Arkani-Hamed, and Nathan Seiberg; and IAS scholars past and present. 

Ideas

Founders’ Statement on America and Higher Learning

“We feel strongly that the spirit characteristic of America at its noblest, above all the pursuit of higher learning, cannot admit of any conditions as to personnel other than those designed to promote the objects for which this institution is established, and particularly with no regard whatever to accidents of race, creed, or sex.”

Ideas

Security vs. Civil Liberties and Human Rights

By Daniela Luigia Caglioti

The outbreak of the war transformed them––independently of their personal story, feelings, ideas, and sense of belonging––into enemy aliens, accused of posing a threat to national security. As the war went on, the campaign against enemy aliens extended well beyond individuals who had originated from an enemy country. The loyalty of groups of citizens was questioned based on ethnic origin, religious belief, or former nationality.

IAS News

Tracy Slatyer lectures in Bloomberg Lecture Hall

IAS Scholars Receive Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

July 12, 2019

Tracy Slatyer, Junior Visiting Professor (2018–19) and Member (2010–13) in the School of Natural Sciences, Thomas Hartman, Member (2010–13) in the School, and Lillian B. Pierce, von Neumann Fellow (2017–18) in the School of Mathematics, have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. 

Video

Exploring the Milky Way's Black Hole

By Scott Tremaine

Scott Tremaine, Richard Black Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, discusses our galaxy's black hole, Sagittarius A*, covering what we know, what we hope to learn, and the techniques being used to study this exotic object.

In the Media

Artist's representation of Nils Barricelli

The Computer Maverick Who Modeled the Evolution of Life

July 15, 2019

Writing for Nautilus, Robert Hackett tells the story of Nils Barricelli, the first theoretical biologist to come to the Institute. Barricelli came to IAS as a Member in 1952 to work on John von Neumann's Electronic Computer Project where, using punchcards, he simulated evolutionary processes using the computer that von Neumann built at IAS.

In the Media

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IAS Ranks Among Nature’s Top Five Research Institutions

June 19, 2019

The Institute for Advanced Study ranks fourth in Nature's normalized analysis of the institutions that dominate research in the natural sciences, revealing those who are “punching above their weight in producing high-quality research.” The article cites as an example the cross-disciplinary analysis of ancient cemeteries led by Patrick J. Geary, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies.

Press Release

Institute’s PiTP Program to Examine “Great Problems in Biology for Physicists”

July 12, 2019

Prospects in Theoretical Physics 2019 will convene scholars from 46 institutions and 22 countries for a two-week program on topics ranging from virology, cancer, and immunology to machine learning and neural networks, focusing on how the tools of modern physics enable novel approaches to biological questions. 

Ideas

Knowledge Beyond Initial Expertise

By Raúl Rabadán

I arrived at the Institute for Advanced Study in October 2003, after spending two years as a fellow at CERN in Geneva. . . . It became clear to me that biology was experiencing a revolutionary expansion, with large amounts of unexplored data and the urgent need for theoretical understanding.

Ideas

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Interstellar Magnetism

By Susan E. Clark

We’re in pursuit of the invisible: mapping the elusive magnetic field between the stars. And the better we understand the magnetized interstellar medium, the better we will be able to peer back to the beginning of time.

Video

Genes, Patents, Race

By Myles W. Jackson and Arnold J. Levine

What can the history of science contribute to two controversial aspects of biomedical research: gene patenting, and race and genomics?

Ideas

Tracing the “Traffic in Women”: Moral and Political Economies of Sexual Labor

By Elizabeth Bernstein

How do three different regulatory models, decriminalization, criminalization, and legalization, affect the complex dynamics of sexual commerce?

Faculty and Members

To visualize what is meant by three-dimensional hyperbolic geometry, consider a chunk of glass sitting on a table, such that the speed of light n is proportional to the height above the table. 

Ian Agol in Volumes of Hyperbolic Link Complements

Does Hilbert’s hotel (a hotel with infinitely many rooms) ever fail to accommodate new guests? Is there an infinity that is too large for Hilbert’s hotel?

Ana Rita Pires in Hospitality at the Hilbert Hotel

This is a self-regulation process . . . the black hole produces a powerful wind, shuts off the star formation, and stops its own feeding.

Nadia Zakamska in Gone with the Wind

Myself and Edward [Witten] and others at the IAS are studying the interactions of anyons, how to describe them theoretically, and how to produce them out of ordinary matter.

Clay Cordova in Topology and Physics