Prospects In Theoretical Physics Program For Graduate Students To Be Held At Institute For Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study will offer an outreach program entitled Prospects in Theoretical Physics on the Institute campus July 1-12. Intended as an orientation and mentoring program for graduate students interested in theoretical physics, the upcoming program is designed as an “Introduction to String Theory.” The session will cover basic topics, as well as open questions in string theory. It is expected that other areas in physics will be explored in subsequent years.
The Institute for Advanced Study is a research institution for scientists and scholars at the postdoctoral or faculty level, and Prospects in Theoretical Physics is one of the first outreach activities devoted specifically to graduate students. Phillip A. Griffiths, director of the Institute, says, “Our School of Natural Sciences, as a center for research in string theory, is pleased to welcome this next generation of young physicists. We are very excited about this pilot program, and feel it can provide an important service to the field of theoretical physics.”
The application process was open to all qualified students, but the participation of women, minorities, and students from institutions that do not have extensive programs in theoretical physics, or access to research universities, was especially encouraged. The goal of the program, says Chiara R. Nappi, professor of physics at Princeton University, and a member of the organizing committee, is “to give these graduate students the knowledge, resources, and encouragement to pursue careers in the field.”
The program has received an overwhelming response from the physics community, says Nappi: “While originally designed to accept 50 students, the program has admitted 90 participants. They represent 50 institutions, and were selected from a field of 180 qualified applicants. Many auditors from area colleges and universities, as well as from further afield, are also expected.”
Members of the organizing committee are, in addition to Nappi, Curtis G. Callan, Princeton University; Louise A. Dolan, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Juan Maldacena, Institute for Advanced Study; Leopoldo Pando Zayas, University of Michigan; and Alfred Shapere, University of Kentucky.
Among the local physicists who will be presenting lectures are professors Igor Klebanov and Paul Steinhardt of Princeton University, and Nathan Seiberg and Edward Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study. Other lecturers include Mirjam Cvetic, University of Pennsylvania; Michael Dine, University of California, Santa Cruz; S. J. Gates, University of Maryland; Clifford V. Johnson, University of Durham; Sheldon Katz, University of Illinois; Sunil Mukhi, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Amanda W. Peet, University of Toronto; Eva Silverstein, Stanford University; and Scott Thomas, Stanford University.
The program is supported in part by the J. Seward Johnson, Sr., Charitable Trusts and the Ambrose Monell Foundation.
For more information, call (609) 734-8330, or see www.ias.edu/pitp.