Edward Witten

Matt Kleban, Member in the School of Natural Sciences (2003–06, 2012–13), recalls how a brief conversation at an AMIAS gathering—with Professor Emeritus in the School, Edward Witten—opened a new line of thinking in his research on string theory. AMIAS, the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study, connects all accepted, current, and former IAS scholars and keeps those chance encounters alive even after a scholar's time at IAS ends.

By the twentieth century, mathematics had advanced into rather abstract realms, transcending its origins, which had been largely driven by questions closer to the natural world. Physics on the other hand, especially after the development of quantum...

On the connections between math and physics, including some of the outstanding questions in quantum gravity, quantum field theory, and number theory.

"Multi-faceted gems, each with crystalline symmetry that gives them an unexpected mathematical beauty”—that is how the physicist Lance Dixon describes the mathematical objects used to predict what happens when nature’s fundamental particles scatter...

On March 19, 2019, the IAS community gathered to celebrate 2019 Abel Prize laureate Karen Uhlenbeck with a reception in her honor.

Listen to remarks on Uhlenbeck's work and influence made by speakers (in order of appearance):

Helmut Hofer, Professor...

How do we fit into our mathematical descriptions? Well, one thing I’ll tell you is that in general, when you have dualities, things that are easy to see in one description can be hard to see in the other description. So you and I, for example, are...

“From Qubits to Spacetime,” the title of 2018's Prospects in Theoretical Physics program, took place from July 16–27, 2018, and covered topics ranging from the connections between quantum information and the structure of spacetime, to how...

As part of Ideas: Celebrating 2017–18, Clay Cordova, Marvin L. Goldberger Member in the School of Natural Sciences, gives a talk on Topology and Physics with Charles Simonyi Professor Edward Witten.

On April 26, 2018, the Institute community gathered to celebrate Ideas 2017–18 with talks by IAS Members––deep ideas explained in under 20 minutes with no slides or chalk––followed by audience discussions moderated by Faculty. The program concluded...

Ed Witten, Charles Simonyi Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, and Helmut Hofer, Professor in the School of Mathematics, along with Marc Lackenby, Martin R. Bridson, and Rahul Pandharipande, have co-authored Lectures on Geometry (Oxford...