Leonard Susskind

Leonard Susskind
Susskind in 2013
Born (1940-06-16) June 16, 1940 (age 84)[2]
New York City, U.S.
Alma materCity College of New York (BS)
Cornell University (PhD)
Known forBlack hole complementarity
Causal patch
Color confinement
ER=EPR
Hamiltonian lattice gauge theory
Holographic principle
Matrix theory (physics)
String theory
String theory landscape
Worldsheet
RST model
Susskind–Glogower operator
Kogut–Susskind fermions
Fischler–Susskind mechanism
AwardsDirac Medal (2023)
Oskar Klein medal (2018)
Pomeranchuk Prize (2008)
Science Writing Award (1998)
Sakurai Prize (1998)
Boris Pregel Award (1975)[1]
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, mathematics
InstitutionsYeshiva University
Tel Aviv University
Stanford University
Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics
Korea Institute for Advanced Study
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
ThesisQuantum mechanical approach to strong interactions (1965)
Doctoral advisorPeter A. Carruthers
Doctoral studentsEduardo Fradkin
Barak Kol
Douglas Stanford

Leonard Susskind (/ˈsʌskɪnd/; born June 16, 1940)[2][3] is an American theoretical physicist, Professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research interests are string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology.[1] He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences,[4] and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[5] an associate member of the faculty of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,[6] and a distinguished professor of the Korea Institute for Advanced Study.[7]

Susskind is widely regarded as one of the fathers of string theory.[8] He was the first to give a precise string-theoretic interpretation of the holographic principle in 1995[9] and the first to introduce the idea of the string theory landscape in 2003.[10][11]

Susskind was awarded the 1998 J. J. Sakurai Prize,[12] the 2018 Oskar Klein Medal,[13] and the Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in 2023.

  1. ^ a b "Faculty information sheet". Stanford University. Archived from the original on March 9, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Lennyfest". May 20–21, 2000. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2007:his 60th birth anniversary was celebrated with a special symposium at Stanford University.
  3. ^ "Why is Time a One-Way Street?". June 26, 2013:in Geoffrey West's introduction, he gives Suskind's current age as 74 and says his birthday was recent.
  4. ^ "60 New Members Chosen by Academy". National Academy of Sciences (press release). May 2, 2000. Retrieved September 1, 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference bioAtEdge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Leonard Susskind Joins PI". October 15, 2007. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  7. ^ "Susskind, Leonard: Distinguished Professor / School of Physics: Theoretical Particle Physics". Korea Institute for Advanced Study. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  8. ^ "Father of String Theory Muses on the Megaverse". NYAS Publications.
  9. ^ Susskind, Leonard (1995). "The World as a Hologram". Journal of Mathematical Physics. 36 (11): 6377–6396. arXiv:hep-th/9409089. Bibcode:1995JMP....36.6377S. doi:10.1063/1.531249. S2CID 17316840.
  10. ^ Leonard Susskind (2003). "The Anthropic Landscape of String Theory". The Davis Meeting on Cosmic Inflation: 26. arXiv:hep-th/0302219. Bibcode:2003dmci.confE..26S.
  11. ^ Byrne, P. (2011). "Bad Boy of Physics". Scientific American. 305 (1): 80–83. Bibcode:2011SciAm.305f..80B. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0711-80.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sakurai was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "The Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture". Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2019.