Brian Greene

Brian Greene at Harvard University
Born	February 9, 1963(1963-02-09) New York City, U.S.
Residence	United States
Nationality	American
Field	Physics
Institutions	Cornell University Columbia University
Alma mater	Harvard University Oxford University
Known for	String theory The Elegant Universe The Fabric of the Cosmos

Brian Greene (born February 9, 1963), is a theoretical physicist and one of the best-known string theorists. Since 1996 he has been a professor at Columbia University. Born in New York City, Greene was a prodigy in mathematics. His skill in mathematics was such that by the time he was twelve years old, he was being privately tutored in mathematics by a Columbia University professor because he had surpassed the high-school math level.^{[citation needed]} His father, Alan, was a one-time vaudeville performer and high school dropout who later worked as a voice coach and composer. [1]. After his tenure at Stuyvesant High School, Brian Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to major in physics, and with his bachelor's degree, Greene earned his Ph.D. at Oxford University in England in 1986, as a Rhodes Scholar. Brian Greene at Harvard University File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This is a discussion of a present category of science. ... “Cornell” redirects here. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Interaction in the subatomic world: world lines of pointlike particles in the Standard Model or a world sheet swept up by closed strings in string theory String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point... The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (ISBN 0-375-70811-1) is a book by Brian Greene published in 1999 which introduces string theory and provides a comprehensive though non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings. ... The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of the Universe (ISBN 0-375-41288-3) is a popular science book about physics written by Brian Greene. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Theoretical physics attempts to understand the world by making a model of reality, used for rationalizing, explaining, predicting physical phenomena through a physical theory. There are three types of theories in physics; mainstream theories, proposed theories and fringe theories. ... Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A child prodigy is someone who is a master of one or more skills or arts at an early age. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Rhodes House in Oxford, designed by Sir Herbert Baker. ...

Career

Greene joined the staff of Columbia University in 1996 which remains his current position. At Columbia, Greene is co-director of the University's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP), and is leading a research program applying superstring theory to cosmological questions. Prior to this, Greene joined the physics faculty of Cornell University in 1990. He was appointed to a full professorship at Cornell University in 1995. Professor Greene often lectures outside of the collegiate setting, at both a general and a technical level, in more than twenty-five countries. One of his latest projects is to organize an annual Science Festival to be held in New York City, starting in 2008.^[1] Columbia University is a private research university in the United States and a member of the prestigious Ivy League. ... “Cornell” redirects here. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... A science festival is a public event featuring a variety of science- and technology-related activities—from lectures, exhibitions, workshops, live demonstrations of experiments, guided tours and panel discussions to cultural events such as theater plays, readings and musical productions, all with the aim of involving the general public in... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Books

His book The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (1999) is a popularization of superstring theory and M-theory. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction, and winner of The Aventis Prizes for Science Books in 2000. The Elegant Universe was later made into a PBS television special with Dr. Greene as the narrator. His second book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space. Time. And the Texture of Reality (2004), is about space, time, and the nature of the universe. Aspects covered in this book include non-local particle entanglement as it relates to special relativity and basic explanations of string theory. It is an examination of the very nature of matter and reality, covering such topics as spacetime and cosmology, origins and unification, and including an exploration into reality and the imagination. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (ISBN 0-375-70811-1) is a book by Brian Greene published in 1999 which introduces string theory and provides a comprehensive though non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings. ... This article is about the year. ... Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings. ... M-theory is a solution proposed for the unknown theory of everything which would combine all five superstring theories and 11-dimensional supergravity together. ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... The Aventis Prizes for Science Books is an annual award for the previous years best general science writing and best science writing for children, sponsored by the Aventis Foundation. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of the Universe (ISBN 0-375-41288-3) is a popular science book about physics written by Brian Greene. ... Space has been an interest for philosophers and scientists for much of human history. ... A pocket watch, a device used to tell time Look up time in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For a less technical and generally accessible introduction to the topic, see Introduction to special relativity. ... For other uses of this term, see Spacetime (disambiguation). ... This article is about the physics subject. ...

Media Attention

Brian Greene also dabbles in acting; he helped John Lithgow with scientific dialogue for the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun, and he had a cameo role in the film Frequency. Recently, he was a consultant in the time-travel movie Déjà Vu which used some theoretical physics terms. He also had a cameo appearance as an Intel Scientist in 2007's "The Last Mimzy". Greene was mentioned in the 2002 Angel episode "Supersymmetry". John Arthur Lithgow (IPA: [ˈʤɔn ˈlɪθɡaÊŠ]) (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor perhaps best-known for his starring role as Dick Solomon in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Frequency is a 2000 film, which contains elements of the time travel, thriller and alternate history film genres. ... Déjà Vu is a science fiction crime thriller directed by Tony Scott, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Denzel Washington. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long. ... For the South Korean TV series of the same name, see Angel (2007 TV series). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• Professor Greene's many media appearances include Charlie Rose, The Colbert Report, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, The Century with Peter Jennings, CNN, TIME, Nightline in Primetime, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman, Nova, specially based on the theories of The Elegant Universe.

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. ... The Colbert Report (IPA: ) is an American satirical television program that airs from 11:30 p. ... The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on PBS in the United States. ... Peter Jennings, CM (July 29, 1938 – August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born, American journalist and news anchor. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... A pocket watch, a device used to tell time Look up time in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. ... Late Night with Conan OBrien is an American late night talk show that is syndicated worldwide. ... Late Show with David Letterman is an hour-long weeknight comedy and talk show broadcast by CBS from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in New York City. ... Nova is a popular science television series from the USA produced by WGBH and can be seen on PBS and in more than 100 countries. ...

Trivia

• He is a vegan.
• He is one of very few people to have an Erdős–Bacon number -- both an Erdős number, connecting him to Paul Erdős by authorship of a mathematics paper, and a Bacon number, connecting him to Kevin Bacon because he appeared in a film, Frequency (2000). His Erdős–Bacon number is 5.

Hens kept in cramped conditions — the avoidance of animal suffering is the primary motivation of people who become vegans A vegan is a person who avoids the ingestion or use of animal products. ... An individuals Erdős–Bacon number is the sum of ones Erdős number—which measures the collaborative distance in authoring mathematical papers between that individual and Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős—and ones Bacon number—which represents the number of links, through roles in films, by... The Erdős number, honouring the late Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, one of the most prolific writers of mathematical papers, is a way of describing the collaborative distance, in regard to mathematical papers, between an author and Erdős. ... Paul Erdős, also Erdős Pál, in English Paul Erdos or Paul Erdös (March 26, 1913 – September 20, 1996), was an immensely prolific (and famously eccentric) Hungarian-born mathematician. ... The Bacon number of an actor or actress is the number of degrees of separation (see Six degrees of separation) they have from actor Kevin Bacon, as defined by the game known as Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. ... Kevin Norwood Bacon[1] (born July 8, 1958) is an American film and theater actor who has starred in Footloose, Animal House, Stir of Echoes, Wild Things, JFK, and Apollo 13, among many others. ... Frequency is a 2000 film, which contains elements of the time travel, thriller and alternate history film genres. ...

Important contributions to physics

• Brian Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds (concretely, relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds).
• He (and David Morrison and Paul Aspinwall) also understood the flop transition, a mild form of topology change.
• Together with David Morrison and Andrew Strominger, he showed that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point.
• He currently studies string cosmology, especially the imprints of trans-Planckian physics on the cosmic microwave background, and brane-gas cosmologies that could explain why the space around us has three large dimensions.
• Expanded on the suggestion of a black hole electron, namely that the electron may be a black hole.

In physics and mathematics, mirror symmetry is a surprising relation that can exist between two Calabi-Yau manifolds. ... In mathematics, a Calabi-Yau manifold is a compact K hler manifold with a vanishing first Chern class. ... In mathematics, a conifold is a generalization of the notion of a manifold. ... In topology and group theory, an orbifold (for orbit-manifold) is a generalization of a manifold. ... A Möbius strip, an object with only one surface and one edge; such shapes are an object of study in topology. ... American theoretical physicist who works on string theory. ... A Möbius strip, an object with only one surface and one edge; such shapes are an object of study in topology. ... Interaction in the subatomic world: world lines of pointlike particles in the Standard Model or a world sheet swept up by closed strings in string theory String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point... In mathematics, a conifold is a generalization of the notion of a manifold. ... String cosmology is a relatively new field that tries to apply equations of string theory to solve the questions of early cosmology. ... WMAP image of the CMB anisotropy,Cosmic microwave background radiation(June 2003) The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is a form of electromagnetic radiation that fills the whole of the universe. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Electron (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Black hole (disambiguation). ...

Publications

• R. Easther, B. R. Greene, M. G. Jackson and D. Kabat, "String windings in the early universe. JCAP {0502}, 009 (2005).
• R. Easther, B. Greene, W. Kinney, G. Shiu, "A Generic Estimate of Trans-Planckian Modifications to the Primordial Power Spectrum in Inflation". Phys. Rev. D66 (2002). 023518.
• R. Easther, B. Greene, W. Kinney, G. Shiu, "Inflation as a Probe of Short Distance Physics". Phys. Rev. D64 (2001) 103502.
• Brian R. Greene, "D-Brane Topology Changing Transitions". Nucl. Phys. B525 (1998) 284-296.
• Michael R. Douglas, Brian R. Greene, David R. Morrison, "Orbifold Resolution by D-Branes". Nucl.Phys. B506 (1997) 84-106.
• Brian R. Greene, David R. Morrison, Andrew Strominger, "Black Hole Condensation and the Unification of String Vacua". Nucl.Phys. B451 (1995) 109-120.
• P.S. Aspinwall, B.R. Greene, D.R. Morrison, "Calabi-Yau Moduli Space, Mirror Manifolds and Spacetime Topology Change in String Theory". Nucl.Phys. B416 (1994) 414-480.
• B.R.Greene and M.R.Plesser, "Duality in Calabi-Yau Moduli Space". Nucl. Phys. B338 (1990) 15.
• Brian R. Greene, "[The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality]", 2005.
• Brian R. Greene, "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory", 1999

Also see: 2002 (number). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ...

See also

• List of physicists
• List of theoretical physicists
• String Theory
• Theory of everything
• Unified Field Theory

Below is a list of famous physicists. ... The following is a partial list of theoretical physicists: // Pythagoras^* (circa 569–475 BCE) Democritus° (circa 460 BCE) Archimedesº* (287–212 BCE) Nicolaus Copernicusº (1473-1543) Galileo Galileiº* (1564–1642) Johannes Keplerº (1571-1630) René Descartes‡^ (1596–1650) Blaise Pascal^ (1623 - 1662) Isaac Newton^*º (1642-1727) Gottfried Leibniz^ (1646–1716... Interaction in the subatomic world: world lines of pointlike particles in the Standard Model or a world sheet swept up by closed strings in string theory String theory is a model of fundamental physics whose building blocks are one-dimensional extended objects called strings, rather than the zero-dimensional point... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

• Brian Greene's Columbia faculty homepage
• The Elegant Universe – PBS television program's website
• The Future of String Theory - A conversation with Brian Greene from Scientific American
• Edge.org – A talk with Brian Greene (requires Real Player).
• Find author Brian R. Greene in Stanford SPIRES HEP database.
• Radio Interview from This Week in Science August 10, 2005 Broadcast
• Brian Greene at the Internet Movie Database
• Brian Greene Charlie Rose interviews. 16 Feb. 1999 interview
• Audio of a 2002 talk at Drury University

Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly) since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ... RealPlayer is a media player, created by RealNetworks, that plays a number of multimedia formats including multiple generations of RealAudio and RealVideo codecs as well as MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, etc. ... Stanford may refer: Stanford University Places: Stanford, Kentucky Stanford, California, home of Stanford University Stanford Shopping Center Stanford, New York, town in Dutchess County. ... Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the elementary constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. ... This Week in Science (TWIS) is a weekly science radio talk show broadcasting from KDVS 90. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Charlie Rose is an American television interview show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. ... Drury University is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Missouri. ...

References

1. ^ Shapiro, Gary. New York, Cambridge To Host Citywide Science Festivals. New York Sun.