Frank Wilczek: Difference between revisions

| website = [http://frankawilczek.com/ frankawilczek.com]

| spouse = [[Betsy Devine]]

| children = Amity and Mira<ref name="Nobel autobiography">{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2004/wilczek/biographical/|title=Frank Wilczek – Autobiography|publisher=Nobel Prize}}</ref>

| work_institution = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] <br /> T. D. Lee Institute and Wilczek Quantum Center, [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University]] <br /> [[Arizona State University]] <br /> [[Stockholm University]]

| prizes = [[MacArthur Fellowship]] (1982)<br />[[Sakurai Prize]] (1986)<br />[[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|ICTP Dirac Medal]] (1994)<br />[[Lorentz Medal]] (2002)<br />[[Lilienfeld Prize]] (2003)<br />[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2004)<br />[[King Faisal International Prize|King Faisal Prize]] (2005)<br />[[Templeton Prize]] (2022)

'''Frank Anthony Wilczek''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɪ|l|tʃ|ɛ|k}}<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=kj8_sCFd_YI |first=Frank |last=Wilczek |title=2004 Nobel Highlights with Laureates in Physics, David J. Gross, H. David Politzer, Frank Wilczek |publisher=[[Nobel Prize]] |time=0:42 |via=YouTube}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪ|l|tʃ|ɛ|k}};<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_1ApbLzJAg |first=Frank |last=Wilczek |title=A Beautiful Question |publisher=[[Talks at Google]] |time=0:13 |via=YouTube}}</ref> born May&nbsp;15, 1951) is an American [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]], [[mathematician]] and [[Nobel laureate]]. He is currently the [[Herman Feshbach]] Professor of Physics at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), Founding Director of T. D. Lee Institute and Chief Scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center, [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University]] (SJTU), distinguished professor at [[Arizona State University]] (ASU) and full professor at [[Stockholm University]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Frank Wilczek, Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics | url=http://web.mit.edu/physics/people/faculty/wilczek_frank.html | publisher=Department of Physics, MIT | year=2011 | access-date=2011-06-14}}</ref>

Wilczek, along with [[David Gross]] and [[H. David Politzer|H.&nbsp;David Politzer]], was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 2004 "for the discovery of [[asymptotic freedom]] in the theory of the [[strong interaction]]".<ref name="Nobel">{{cite web | title=Frank Wilczek Facts| website=NobelPrize.org| url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2004/wilczek/facts/ | location=Stockholm | publisher=Nobel Foundation | access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref> In May 2022, he was awarded the [[Templeton Prize|Templeton Prize]] whosefor his investigations into the fundamental laws of nature, that have transformed our understanding of the forces that govern our universe and revealed an inspiring vision of a world that embodies mathematical beauty.<ref> Thomas, Burnett (May 11th, 2022). [https://https://www.templetonprize.org/laureate-sub/dr-frank-wilczek-receives-2022-templeton-prize// "Dr. Frank Wilczek Receives 2022 Templeton Prize"], [[CurrentTempleton Affairs (magazine)Prize|''The Templeton prizePrize'']]. Retrieved 11 May 2022.</ref>

Born in [[Mineola, New York|Mineola]], [[New York (state)|New York]], Wilczek is of Polish and Italian origin.<ref name="Nobel autobiography"/> His grandparents were immigrants, who "really did work with their hands", according to Wilczek, but Frank'shis father took night school classes to educate himself, working as a repairman to support his family.<ref name="AIP2020">{{Cite web |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/44536 |title=Oral history interview with Frank Wilczek, 2020 June 4 |last=Wilczek |first=Frank |publisher=AIP |quote=Somewhere between working class and lower middle class. Yeah, lower middle class, I guess I would say. Unlike my grandparents, who really did work with their hands, my father, as I said, was kind of a technician and repairman. He actually got very good at the job and was rising through the ranks. |date=September 15, 2020 |access-date=September 18, 2020}}</ref> Wilczek's father became a "self-taught engineer", whose interests in technology and science inspired his son.<ref name="sU2018">{{Cite web |url=https://www.su.se/english/research/profile-areas/astrophysics-cosmology-and-particle-physics/the-nobel-laureate-who-got-hooked-on-stockholm-1.309112 |title=The Nobel laureate who got hooked on Stockholm |publisher=Stockholm University |quote=Frank Wilczek’s story starts in Queens, New York, where he grew up in a working-class family with roots in Europe. They were children of the Great Depression from Long Island and had limited access to resources, but that didn't stop them from working to educate themselves. Frank’s father was a self-taught engineer and passed his interest in technology and science on to his son. |date=September 15, 2020 |access-date=September 18, 2020 |archive-date=October 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016003411/http://www.su.se/english/research/profile-areas/astrophysics-cosmology-and-particle-physics/the-nobel-laureate-who-got-hooked-on-stockholm-1.309112 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Wilczek was educated in the public schools of [[Queens, New York|Queens]], attending [[Martin Van Buren High School (New York City)|Martin Van Buren High School]]. It was around this time Wilczek's parents realized that he was exceptional—inexceptional, in part as a result of Franktheir Wilczekson having been administered an [[IQ test]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Dreifus|first=Claudia|title=Discovering the Mathematical Laws of Nature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/science/29conv.html?_r=1|access-date=22 May 2012|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 28, 2009}}</ref>

After skipping two grades, Wilczek started high school in the 10th grade, when he was 13 years old. He was particularly inspired by two of his high school physics teachers, one of whom taught a course that helped students with the national [[Westinghouse Science Talent Search]]. Wilczek was a finalist in 1967 and ultimately won fourth place, based on a mathematical project involving [[group theory]].<ref name="UFT2018">{{Cite web |url=https://www.uft.org/news/feature-stories/noteworthy-graduates/noteworthy-graduates-frank-wilczek-nobel-laureate-physics |title=Noteworthy graduates: Frank Wilczek, Nobel laureate in physics |publisher=United Federation of Teachers |quote=As a high school senior, Wilczek was a finalist in the national Science Talent Search. He says his premise about mathematical structures called groups was the best part of his project, posing 'a sensible question for someone to ask at that stage'. |date=December 7, 2018 |access-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-date=July 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717085409/https://www.uft.org/news/feature-stories/noteworthy-graduates/noteworthy-graduates-frank-wilczek-nobel-laureate-physics |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/science-talent-search-1967/ |title=Westinghouse Science Talent Search 1967 |publisher=[[Society for Science]] |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref>

He earned a Master of Arts in Mathematics in 1972 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in physics in 1974, both from [[Princeton University]].<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=94768|title=Frank Anthony Wilczek}}</ref>

Wilczek became a foreign member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/5112 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214205131/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/foreign-members/5112 |title=F.A. Wilczek |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-date=14 February 2016 |access-date=14 February 2016}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Lorentz Medal]] in 2002. Wilczek won the [[Lilienfeld Prize]] of the [[American Physical Society]] in 2003. In the same year, he was awarded the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Commemorative Medal from [[Charles University]] in Prague. He was the co-recipient of the 2003 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize of the [[European Physical Society]]. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2004 was awarded jointly to [[David J. Gross]], [[H. David Politzer]] and Frank Wilczek "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction". Wilczek was also the co-recipient of the 2005 [[King Faisal International Prize for Science]]. In that same year, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> On January 25, 2013, Wilczek received an [[Honorary degree|honorary doctorate]] from the Faculty of Science and Technology at [[Uppsala University]], Sweden.<ref>{{Cite web|title = New honorary doctorates in science and technology – Uppsala University, Sweden|url = http://www.uu.se/en/research/grants-awards/article/?id=2263&area=12,16&typ=artikel&lang=en|website = www.uu.se|access-date = 2016-02-03}}</ref> He also served on the Physical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, Wilczek gave the [[George Gamow Memorial Lectures|George Gamow Memorial Lecture]] at the [[University of Colorado Boulder]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anas |first=Brittany |date=April 18, 2011 |title=Nobel Prize Winner Frank Wilczek to lecture at CU Boulder |work=[[Daily Camera]] |url=https://www.dailycamera.com/2011/04/18/nobel-prize-winning-physics-professor-frank-wilczek-to-lecture-at-cu-boulder/}}</ref> In 2022 he was awarded the [[Templeton Prize]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Frank Wilczek |url=https://www.templetonprize.org/laureate/frank-wilczek/ |publisher=[[Templeton Prize]] |date=2022 |access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref> for the work that reveals "a vision of a universe that he regards as embodying mathematical beauty at the scales of the magnificently large and unimaginably small".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nobel physics laureate Frank Wilczek wins Templeton Prize for work on science, spirituality links |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/11/frank-wilczek-nobel-physics-laureate-wins-templeto/ |access-date=2022-05-12 |newspaper=The Washington Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1977, [[Roberto Peccei]] and [[Helen Quinn]] postulated a solution to the strong CP problem, the [[Peccei–Quinn theory|Peccei–Quinn mechanism]]. This is accomplished by adding a new global symmetry (called a [[Peccei–Quinn symmetry]].) When that symmetry is spontaneously broken, a new particle results, as shown independently by Wilczek and by [[Steven Weinberg]].<ref>{{cite journal |title = Problem of Strong ''P'' and ''T'' Invariance in the Presence of Instantons | author = Wilczek, F.

In 2012 he proposed the idea of a [[time crystal]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/04/time-crystals/all/ | title=Time Crystals' Could Upend Physicists' Theory of Time | date=2013-04-30 | first=Natalie | last=Wolchover | journal=[[Wired (website)|Wired]]}}</ref> In 2018, several research teams reported the existence of time crystals.<ref name="TC2018">{{Cite web |url=https://physicsworld.com/a/in-search-of-time-crystals/ |title=In Search of Time Crystals |last=Ball |first=Phillip |work=Physics World |quote="We discovered experimentally that discrete time crystals not only exist, but that this phase is also remarkably robust." Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University |date=July 17, 2018 |access-date=March 23, 2019}}</ref> In 2018, he and Qing-Dong Jiang calculated that the so-called "quantum atmosphere" of materials should theoretically be capable of being probed using existing technology such as diamond probes with [[nitrogen-vacancy center]]s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Marcus |title='Quantum Atmospheres' May Reveal Secrets of Matter |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-atmospheres-may-reveal-secrets-of-matter-20180925/ |access-date=11 May 2020 |work=Quanta Magazine |date=September 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Qing-Dong |last2=Wilczek |first2=Frank |title=Quantum atmospherics for materials diagnosis |journal=Physical Review B |date=10 May 2019 |volume=99 |issue=20 |page=201104 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevB.99.201104|arxiv=1809.01692 |bibcode=2019PhRvB..99t1104J |doi-access=free }}</ref>

* [[Quantum gravity|quantum theory]] of [[black holes]]; see, e.g., the application of the moving mirror model to black holes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Wilczek | first1=F. |last2=Linder |first2=E. V. |last3=Good |first3=M.R.R. | title=Moving mirror model for quasithermal radiation fields | year=2020 | journal=[[Physical Review D]] | volume=101 | issue=2 | page=025012 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.101.025012 | arxiv=1909.01129 | bibcode=2020PhRvD.101b5012G | hdl=1721.1/125524 | s2cid=213899274 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

* {{cite journal | last1=Wilczek | first1=F. |last2=Linder |first2=E. V. |last3=Good |first3=M.R.R. | title=Moving mirror model for quasithermal radiation fields | year=2020 | journal=[[Physical Review D]] | volume=101 | issue=2 | page=025012 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.101.025012 | arxiv=1909.01129 | bibcode=2020PhRvD.101b5012G | hdl=1721.1/125524 | s2cid=213899274 | hdl-access=free }}

* [http://betsydevine.com/blog/category/nobel/ Blog of the Wilczek family's Nobel adventures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930193306/http://betsydevine.com/blog/category/nobel/ |date=2011-09-30 }} (2004)

[[Category:ParticleAmerican particle physicists]]

[[Category:TheoreticalAmerican theoretical physicists]]