Brian Randolph Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string
theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996 and
chairman of the World Science Festival since co-founding it in 2008. Greene has
worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds. He also
described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that
topology in string theory can change at the conifold point.
Greene has become known to a wider audience through his books for the
general public, The Elegant Universe, Icarus at the Edge of Time, The Fabric
of the Cosmos, The Hidden Reality, and related PBS television specials. He also
appeared on The Big Bang Theory episode "The Herb Garden Germination", as well
as the films Frequency and The Last Mimzy. He is currently a member of the
Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Early life Greene was born in New York City. His
father, Alan Greene, was a one-time vaudeville performer and high school
dropout who later worked as a voice coach and composer. He stated in an
interview with Lawrence Krauss that he is of Jewish heritage. After attending
Stuyvesant High School, Greene entered Harvard in 1980 to concentrate in
physics. After completing his bachelor's degree, Greene earned his doctorate from
Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, graduating in 1987. While at Oxford,
Greene also studied piano with the concert pianist Jack Gibbons.
Career Greene joined the physics faculty of
Cornell University in 1990, and was appointed to a full professorship in
1995. The following year, he joined the staff of Columbia University as a full
professor. At Columbia, Greene is co-director of the university's
Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics, and is leading a
research program applying superstring theory to cosmological questions. He is
also one of the FQXi large grant awardees, his project title being "Arrow
of Time in the Quantum Universe". His co-investigators are David Albert and
Maulik Parikh. = Research=
Greene's area of research is string theory, a candidate for a theory of
quantum gravity. String theory attempts to explain the different particle
species of the standard model of particle physics as different aspects of
a single type of one-dimensional, vibrating string. One peculiarity of
string theory is that it postulates the existence of extra dimensions of space:
instead of the usual four dimensions, there must be ten spatial dimensions and
one dimension of time to allow for a consistently defined string theory. The
theory has several explanations to offer for why we do not perceive these extra
dimensions, one being that they are "curled up" and are hence too small to
be readily noticeable. In the field, Greene is best known for
his contribution to the understanding of the different shapes the curled-up
dimensions of string theory can take. The most important of these shapes are
so-called Calabi–Yau manifolds; when the extra dimensions take on those
particular forms, physics in three dimensions exhibits an abstract symmetry
known as supersymmetry. Greene has worked on a particular class
of symmetry relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds, known as mirror
symmetry. He is also known for his research on the flop transition, a mild
form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at
the conifold point. Currently, Greene 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, expanding on the suggestion
of a black hole electron, namely that the electron may be a black hole.
= World Science Festival= In 2008, together with Tracy Day, Greene
co-founded the World Science Festival, whose mission is to cultivate a general
public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and
prepared to engage with its implications for the future. He is currently the
Chairman of the Board. The World Science Festival’s signature
event is a five-day festival in New York City, typically falling at the May.
Hailed a “new cultural institution”, by The New York Times, the Festival has
featured such luminaries as: Stephen Hawking, Edward O. Wilson, Sir Paul
Nurse, James Watson, Anna Deavere Smith, Francis Collins, Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma,
Oliver Sacks, Mary-Claire King, William Phillips, Paul Davies, Elizabeth Vargas,
Sir Roger Penrose, Charlie Rose, Lisa P. Jackson, John Lithgow, Vinton Cerf,
Glenn Close, Jeffrey Eugenides, Bill T. Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, Elaine Fuchs.
The first six Festivals have drawn close to a million visitors, and millions more
have explored the year round content available online.
= Communicating science= Greene is well known to a wider audience
for his work on popularizing theoretical physics, in particular string theory and
the search for a unified theory of physics. His first book, The Elegant
Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the
Ultimate Theory, published in 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 of the same name, hosted and narrated by
Greene, which won a 2003 Peabody Award. Greene's second book, The Fabric of the
Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, 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 Fabric of the
Cosmos was later made into a PBS television special of the same name,
hosted and narrated by Greene. Greene's third book, The Hidden Reality:
Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos, published in January 2011,
deals in greater depth with multiple universes, or, as they are sometimes
referred to collectively, the multiverse.
A book for a younger audience, Icarus at the Edge of Time ISBN 978-0-307-26888-4,
which is a futuristic re-telling of the Icarus myth, was published September 2,
2008. In addition to authoring popular-science books, Greene is an
occasional Op-Ed Contributor for The New York Times, writing on his work and
other scientific topics. The popularity of his books and his
natural on-camera demeanor have resulted in many media appearances, including
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, and the Late Show with David Letterman. It has also led to
Greene helping John Lithgow with scientific dialogue for the television
series 3rd Rock from the Sun, and becoming a technical consultant for the
film Frequency, in which he also had a cameo role. He was a consultant on the
2006 time-travel movie Déjà Vu. He also had a cameo appearance as an Intel
scientist in 2007's The Last Mimzy. Greene was also mentioned in the 2002
Angel episode "Supersymmetry" and in the 2008 Stargate Atlantis episode "Trio".
Through his film credits, combined with his research publications in
mathematical physics, Greene is one of the few people to have a defined
Erdős–Bacon number. In April 2011 he appeared on The Big Bang Theory in the
episode "The Herb Garden Germination" as himself, speaking to a small crowd about
the contents of his most recent book. Greene often lectures outside of the
collegiate setting, at both a general and a technical level, in more than
twenty-five countries. In 2012 his teaching prowess was recognized when he
received the Richtmyer Memorial Award, which is given annually by the American
Association of Physics Teachers. In May 2013, the Science Laureates of
the United States Act of 2013 was introduced into Congress. Brian Greene
was listed by one commentator as a possible nominee for the position of
Science Laureate, if the act were to pass.
Personal life Greene is married to former ABC producer
Tracy Day. Greene has been vegetarian since he was nine years old when he
realized, "...the connection between the meat and the animal from which it came
direct; I was horrified and declared I’d never eat meat again. And I never have."
He became vegan in 1997 after touring Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New
York, where he learned, "...about the dairy industry which was so disturbing
that I could not continue to support it. Within days I gave up all dairy."
Greene has stated that he sees science as incompatible with literalist
interpretations of religion. He has argued that "But if you don’t view God
as the reservoir of temporary answers to issues we haven’t solved scientifically,
but rather as some overarching structure within which science takes place, and if
that makes you happy and satisfied, so be it. I don’t see the need for that;
others do." He has also stated that there is much in the New Atheism
movement which resonates with him because he personally does not feel the
need for religious explanation. However, he is uncertain of its efficacy as a
strategy for spreading a scientific worldview.
Bibliography = Technical articles=
For a full list of technical articles, consult the publication list in the
INSPIRE-HEP database Easther, Richard; Greene, Brian R.;
Jackson, Mark G.; Kabat, Daniel. "String windings in the early universe". Journal
of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. arXiv:hep-th/0409121v1.
Bibcode:2005JCAP...02..009E. doi:10.10882005009.
Easther, Richard; Greene, Brian R.; Kinney, William H.; Shiu, Gary. "A
generic estimate of trans-Planckian modifications to the primordial power
spectrum in inflation". Physical Review D 66. arXiv:hep-th/0204129v1.
Bibcode:2002PhRvD..66b3518E. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.66.023518.
R. Easther, B. Greene, W. Kinney, G. Shiu, "Inflation as a Probe of Short
Distance Physics". Phys. Rev. D64 103502.
Brian R. Greene, "D-Brane Topology Changing Transitions". Nucl. Phys. B525
284-296. Michael R. Douglas, Brian R. Greene,
David R. Morrison, "Orbifold Resolution by D-Branes". Nucl.Phys. B506 84-106.
Brian R. Greene, David R. Morrison, Andrew Strominger, "Black Hole
Condensation and the Unification of String Vacua". Nucl.Phys. B451 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 414-480. B.R.Greene and M.R.Plesser, "Duality in
Calabi-Yau Moduli Space". Nucl. Phys. B338 15.
= Books for general readers= 1999 – The Elegant Universe:
Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
2005 – The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
2008 – Icarus at the Edge of Time 2011 – The Hidden Reality: Parallel
Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
See also List of physicists
List of theoretical physicists Theory of everything
Unified field theory References
External links Brian Greene faculty homepage
Brian Greene at the Internet Movie Database
Brian Greene at TED