News and Events
Physicist Hirosi Ooguri Awarded for Novel Research on Black Holes
(Originally published by the California Institute of Technology)
January 8, 2008 Pasadena, Calif.
Hirosi Ooguri, the Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics at the
California Institute of Technology, is a co-recipient of the first ever
Leonard Eisenbud Prize for Mathematics and Physics, awarded by the
American Mathematical Society (AMS). The prize, created in 2006, has
gone to Ooguri and coauthors Andrew Strominger and Cumrun Vafa of
Harvard University for their paper "Black hole attractors and the
topological string," published in 2004.
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| Hirosi Ooguri, the Kavli Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology |
This work stems from concepts formulated by scientists Jacob Bekenstein
and Stephen Hawking. Originally, scientists thought that a black hole
must be simple in structure and somewhat dull as a phenomenon. In the
1970s, however, Bekenstein and Hawking proposed that a black hole would
have entropy, and that its quantum configuration would have an
exponentially large number of possibilities, much as there are a number
of ways you can arrange the furniture in your bedroom.
In what the AMS calls a "beautiful and highly unexpected proposal,"
Ooguri and his coauthors related the property of black holes to
state-of-the-art mathematics in higher dimensions. A new geometric
method in six dimensions called topological string theory, whose
development has been inspired by superstring theory, turned out to be
essential in explaining the origin of the black hole entropy.
"We had an answer, which was topological string theory," says Ooguri.
But they did not know how it could be applied. "It turns out counting
the states of black holes was the question we had been looking for.
This work was the discovery of the question." Ooguri says that this
prize is exciting not just for his work, but because it recognizes the
connection between physics and mathematics. Ooguri had trouble
understanding physics while in high school until he took calculus.
"Mathematics is a language, and we need that language to understand the
physics of our universe," says Ooguri. Mathematics and physics
complement each other. Discoveries in physics can catalyze developments
in mathematics, and vice versa.
The $5,000 prize was awarded to Ooguri, Strominger, and Vafa on January
7, 2008, at the AMS meeting in San Diego, the largest annual gathering
of mathematicians in the world.
The AMS was founded in 1888 to advance mathematical research and
scholarship. It aims to promote mathematical research and its uses
through programs and services, to strengthen mathematical education,
and to foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its
connection to other disciplines and to everyday life. The society has
28,000 individual members in the United States and around the world.
David Eisenbud, a former president of the AMS, established the Leonard
Eisenbud Prize for Mathematics and Physics in memory of his father, a
mathematical physicist who died in 2004. The prize honors work that
connects the two fields. The prize will be awarded every three years
for a work published in the preceding six years.
John Schwarz, one of Ooguri's colleagues and the Brown Professor of
Theoretical Physics at Caltech, says, "Hirosi Ooguri is one of the
leading theoretical physicists in the world. Research on string theory
and quantum field theory has had a profound impact on fundamental
mathematics in recent times, and this is epitomized by Ooguri's
contributions. I am delighted that he is receiving this richly deserved
recognition."
Original story may be found here.
