View source for Edward Witten

{{short description|American theoretical physicist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Edward Witten
| image             = Edward Witten.jpg
| caption           = Witten in 2008
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1951|8|26}}
| birth_place       = [[Baltimore]], Maryland, U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| alma_mater        = {{plainlist|
* [[Brandeis University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[PhD]])}}
| known_for         = {{plainlist|
* [[M-theory]]
* [[Seiberg–Witten theory]]
* [[Seiberg–Witten invariants]]
* [[Seiberg–Witten moduli space]]
* [[Seiberg–Witten flow]]
* [[Seiberg–Witten map]]
* [[Wess–Zumino–Witten model]]
* [[Weinberg–Witten theorem]]
* [[Gromov–Witten invariant]]
* [[Hořava–Witten domain wall]]
* [[Vafa–Witten theorem]]
* [[Witten index]]
* [[BCFW recursion]]
* [[Topological quantum field theory]] ([[Topological quantum field theory#Witten-type TQFTs|Witten-type TQFTs]])
* [[Topological string theory]]
* [[CSW rules]]
* [[Witten conjecture]]
* [[Witten zeta function]]
* [[Hanany–Witten transition]]
* [[Twistor string theory]]
* [[Chern–Simons theory]]
* [[Positive energy theorem]]
* [[Eta_and_eta_prime_mesons#General|Witten–Veneziano mechanism]]
* [[Bubble of nothing]]
}}
| spouse            = [[Chiara Nappi]]
| children          = 3, including [[Ilana B. Witten|Ilana B.]] and [[Daniela Witten|Daniela]]
| father            = [[Louis Witten]]
| relatives         = {{plainlist|
* [[Matt Witten]] (brother)
* [[Benjamin Witten]] (uncle)
}}
| awards            = {{plainlist|
* [[MacArthur Fellowship]] (1982)
* [[Albert Einstein Medal]] (1985)
* [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|ICTP Dirac Medal]] (1985)
* [[Alan T. Waterman Award]] (1986)
* [[Fields Medal]] (1990)
* [[Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics|Dannie Heineman Prize]] (1998)
* [[Nemmers Prize in Mathematics|Nemmers Prize]] (2000)
* [[National Medal of Science]] (2002)
* [[Harvey Prize]] (2005)
* [[Henri Poincaré Prize]] (2006)
* [[Crafoord Prize]] (2008)
* [[Lorentz Medal]] (2010)
* [[Isaac Newton Medal]] (2010)
* [[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics|Breakthrough Prize in]]
* [[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics|Fundamental Physics]] (2012)
* [[Kyoto Prize]] (2014)
* [[Albert Einstein World Award of Science|Albert Einstein Award]] (2016)<ref>{{cite web|title=Announcement of 2016 Winners|url=http://consejoculturalmundial.org/announcement-of-2016-winners/|publisher=World Cultural Council|date=June 6, 2016|access-date=June 6, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607043423/http://consejoculturalmundial.org/announcement-of-2016-winners/|archive-date=June 7, 2016}}</ref>
}}
| field             = {{plainlist|
* [[Theoretical physics]]
* [[Mathematical physics]]
* [[Superstring theory]]
}}
| work_institution  = {{plainlist|
* [[Institute for Advanced Study]]
* [[Harvard University]]
* [[Oxford University]]
* [[California Institute of Technology]]
* [[Princeton University]]
}}
| thesis_title      = Some Problems in the Short Distance Analysis of Gauge Theories
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302811319
| thesis_year       = 1976
| doctoral_advisor  = {{plainlist|
* [[David Gross]]<ref name= "Woit">{{cite book |last= Woit |first= Peter |title= Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law |location= New York |publisher= Basic Books |year= 2006 |page= [https://archive.org/details/notevenwrongfail00woit/page/105 105] |isbn= 0-465-09275-6 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/notevenwrongfail00woit/page/105 }}</ref>
| academic_advisors = [[Sidney Coleman]]<ref name="Adv" />
* [[Michael Atiyah]]<ref name="Adv"/>
}}
| doctoral_students = {{plainlist|
* [[Jonathan Bagger]] (1983)
* [[Cumrun Vafa]] (1985)
* [[Xiao-Gang Wen]] (1987)
* [[Dror Bar-Natan]] (1991)
* [[Shamit Kachru]] (1994)
* [[Eva Silverstein]] (1996)
* [[Sergei Gukov]] (2001)
}}
| website           = {{URL|https://ias.edu/sns/witten}}
}}

'''Edward Witten''' (born August 26, 1951) is an American [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] known for his contributions to [[string theory]], [[topological quantum field theory]], and various areas of [[mathematics]]. He is a professor emeritus in the school of [[natural science]]s at the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date= December 9, 2019|title=Edward Witten |url=https://www.ias.edu/scholars/witten |access-date=Jul 14, 2022 |website=Institute for Advanced Study}}</ref> Witten is a researcher in [[string theory]], [[quantum gravity]], [[supersymmetry|supersymmetric quantum field theories]], and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics.<ref name="atiyah">{{cite conference |url=http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1990.1/Main/icm1990.1.0031.0036.ocr.pdf |title=On the Work of Edward Witten |last1=Atiyah |first1=Michael |year=1990 |book-title=Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians |pages=31–35 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301004342/http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1990.1/Main/icm1990.1.0031.0036.ocr.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2017 }}</ref> In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a [[Fields Medal]] by the [[International Mathematical Union]], for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the [[positive energy theorem]] in [[general relativity]], and his interpretation of the [[Vaughan Jones|Jones]] invariants of knots as [[Feynman integral]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1990.1/Main/icm1990.1.0031.0036.ocr.pdf |title=On the Work of Edward Witten |author=Michael Atiyah |website=Mathunion.org |access-date=March 31, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301004342/http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1990.1/Main/icm1990.1.0031.0036.ocr.pdf |archive-date=March 1, 2017  }}</ref> He is considered the practical founder of [[M-theory]].<ref name="Duff 1998, p. 65">Duff 1998, p. 65</ref>

==Early life and education==
Witten was born on August 26, 1951, in [[Baltimore]], Maryland, to a [[Jewish]] family,<ref>{{Cite web
|title=Edward Witten - Biography
|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Witten/|access-date=2023-02-01
| author1 = J J O'Connor 
| author2=  E F Robertson
| date= September 2009 
| publisher= University of St Andrews
|website=Maths History|language=en}}</ref> as the eldest of four children. His brother [[Matt Witten]] became a writer, and his brother Jesse Amnon Witten became a law partner in the firm [[Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath]].<ref>{{cite web|title=LDB Appoints Jesse A. Witten to the LDB Legal Advisory Board|date=October 20, 2020|website=Brandeis Center|url=https://brandeiscenter.com/ldb-appoints-jesse-a-witten-to-the-ldb-legal-advisory-board/}}</ref> Their sister Celia M. Witten earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from [[Stanford University]]<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=18616|name=Celia Witten}}</ref> and then an M.D. from the [[University of Miami]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Celia Witten, M.D., Ph.D.|website=The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy|url=https://sites.utexas.edu/cpe-icdd/speakers/celia-witten}}</ref> Edward Witten is the son of Lorraine (born Wollach) Witten<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary for Lorraine Witten|newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=February 10, 1987|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-obituary-for-lor/72622660/}}</ref> and [[Louis Witten]], a [[theoretical physicist]] specializing in [[gravity|gravitation]] and [[general relativity]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEp1LT7dQMoC&q=LORRAINE+LOUIS+WITTEN|title=The International Who's Who: 1992–93|date=1992|publisher=Europa Publications|isbn=978-0-946653-84-3|page=1754}}</ref>

Witten attended the [[Park School of Baltimore]] (class of 1968), and received his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree with a major in [[history]] and minor in [[linguistics]] from [[Brandeis University]] in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward Witten (1951)|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/medalofscience50/witten.jsp|access-date=August 25, 2020|website=www.nsf.gov}}</ref>

He had aspirations in journalism and politics and published articles in both ''[[The New Republic]]'' and ''[[The Nation]]'' in the late 1960s.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Witten|first=Edward|title=Are You Listening, D.H. Lawrence?|magazine=The New Republic|date=October 18, 1969}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Witten|first=Edward|title=The New Left |work=The Nation|date=December 16, 1968}}</ref> In 1972, he worked for six months on [[George McGovern 1972 presidential campaign|George McGovern's presidential campaign]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Farmelo|first=Graham|date=May 2, 2019|title='The Universe Speaks in Numbers' – Interview 5|url=https://grahamfarmelo.com/the-universe-speaks-in-numbers-interview-5/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503163123/https://grahamfarmelo.com/the-universe-speaks-in-numbers-interview-5/|archive-date=May 3, 2019|access-date=August 25, 2020|website=Graham Farmelo}} [https://backreaction.blogspot.com/2019/05/graham-farmelos-interview-of-edward.html Alt URL]</ref>

Witten attended the [[University of Michigan]] for one semester as an economics graduate student before dropping out.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-24 |title=Edward Witten |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/46968 |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=www.aip.org |language=en}}</ref> He returned to academia, enrolling in [[applied mathematics]] at [[Princeton University]] in 1973, then shifting departments and receiving a [[PhD]] in physics in 1976 and completing a dissertation, "Some problems in the short distance analysis of gauge theories", under the supervision of [[David Gross]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Witten|first=E.|url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/1632693|title=Some problems in the short distance analysis of gauge theories|date=1976}}</ref> He held a fellowship at [[Harvard University]] (1976–77), visited [[Oxford University]] (1977–78),<ref name="Adv">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sns.ias.edu/ckfinder/userfiles/files/ComemorativeLecturePopular%281%29.pdf |title=Edward Witten – Adventures in physics and math (Kyoto Prize lecture 2014) |access-date=October 30, 2016 |archive-date=August 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823223743/http://www.sns.ias.edu/ckfinder/userfiles/files/ComemorativeLecturePopular(1).pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.sns.ias.edu/sites/default/files/Interview.pdf Interview by Hirosi Ooguri] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329131003/http://www.sns.ias.edu/sites/default/files/Interview.pdf |date=March 29, 2017 }}, ''[[Notices of the American Mathematical Society]]'', May 2015, pp. 491–506.</ref> was a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (1977–1980), and held a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Foundation]] fellowship (1982).<ref name=":0" />

==Research==
===Fields medal work===
Witten was awarded the [[Fields Medal]] by the [[International Mathematical Union]] in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011|title=Edward Witten|url=http://www.sns.ias.edu/~witten/CurrentCV.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204111241/http://www.sns.ias.edu/~witten/CurrentCV.pdf|archive-date=February 4, 2012|access-date=April 13, 2021}}</ref>

In a written address to the [[International Congress of Mathematicians|ICM]], [[Michael Atiyah]] said of Witten:<ref name="atiyah" />

{{blockquote|text=Although he is definitely a physicist (as his list of publications clearly shows) his command of mathematics is rivaled by few mathematicians, and his ability to interpret physical ideas in mathematical form is quite unique. Time and again he has surprised the mathematical community by a brilliant application of physical insight leading to new and deep mathematical theorems&nbsp;... He has made a profound impact on contemporary mathematics. In his hands physics is once again providing a rich source of inspiration and insight in mathematics.<ref name="atiyah" />}}

{{stack|[[File:Widden Mori.jpg|thumb|Edward Witten (left) with mathematician [[Shigefumi Mori]], probably at the [[International Congress of Mathematicians|ICM]] in 1990, where they received the [[Fields Medal]]]]}}
As an example of Witten's work in pure mathematics, Atiyah cites his application of techniques from [[quantum field theory]] to the mathematical subject of [[low-dimensional topology]]. In the late 1980s, Witten coined the term ''[[topological quantum field theory]]'' for a certain type of physical theory in which the [[expectation value]]s of observable quantities encode information about the [[topology]] of [[spacetime]].<ref name="tqft">{{Citation | last1=Witten | first1=Edward | year=1988 | title=Topological quantum field theory | url=http://projecteuclid.org/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate?view=body&id=pdf_1&handle=euclid.cmp/1104161738 | journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] | volume=117 | issue=3 | pages=353–386 |bibcode = 1988CMaPh.117..353W |doi = 10.1007/BF01223371 | s2cid=43230714 }}</ref> In particular, Witten realized that a physical theory now called [[Chern–Simons theory]] could provide a framework for understanding the mathematical theory of [[knot (mathematics)|knots]] and [[3-manifold]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Witten |first=Edward |year=1989 |title=Quantum Field Theory and the Jones Polynomial |url=http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~aar/papers/witten.pdf |journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=351–399 |bibcode = 1989CMaPh.121..351W |doi = 10.1007/BF01217730 |s2cid=14951363 }}</ref> Although Witten's work was based on the mathematically ill-defined notion of a [[Feynman path integral]] and therefore not [[mathematical rigor|mathematically rigorous]], mathematicians were able to systematically develop Witten's ideas, leading to the theory of [[Reshetikhin–Turaev invariant]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reshetikhin |first1=Nicolai |last2=Turaev |first2=Vladimir |year=1991 |title=Invariants of 3-manifolds via link polynomials and quantum groups |journal=[[Inventiones Mathematicae]] |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=547–597 |bibcode = 1991InMat.103..547R |doi = 10.1007/BF01239527 |s2cid=123376541 }}</ref>

Another result for which Witten was awarded the Fields Medal was his proof in 1981 of the [[positive energy theorem]] in [[general relativity]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Witten |first1=Edward |year=1981 |title=A new proof of the positive energy theorem |url=http://projecteuclid.org/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate?view=body&id=pdf_1&handle=euclid.cmp/1103919981 |journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=381–402 |bibcode = 1981CMaPh..80..381W |doi = 10.1007/BF01208277 |s2cid=1035111 }}</ref> This theorem asserts that (under appropriate assumptions) the total [[energy]] of a gravitating system is always positive and can be zero only if the geometry of [[spacetime]] is that of flat [[Minkowski space]]. It establishes Minkowski space as a stable ground state of the [[gravitational field]]. While the original proof of this result due to [[Richard Schoen]] and [[Shing-Tung Yau]] used [[variational methods]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schoen |first1=Robert |last2=Yau |first2=Shing-Tung |year=1979 |title=On the proof of the positive mass conjecture in general relativity |journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=65 |issue=1 |page=45 |bibcode = 1979CMaPh..65...45S |doi = 10.1007/BF01940959 |s2cid=54217085 |url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.cmp/1103904790 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schoen |first1=Robert |last2=Yau |first2=Shing-Tung |year=1981 |title=Proof of the positive mass theorem. II |journal=[[Communications in Mathematical Physics]] |volume=79 |issue=2 |page=231 |bibcode = 1981CMaPh..79..231S |doi = 10.1007/BF01942062 |s2cid=59473203 |url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.cmp/1103908964 }}</ref> Witten's proof used ideas from [[supergravity theory]] to simplify the argument.<ref name="Parker 1985 Gauge choice in Witten">{{cite journal | last=Parker | first=Thomas H. | title=Gauge choice in Witten's energy expression | journal=Communications in Mathematical Physics | volume=100 | issue=4 | date=1985 | issn=0010-3616 | doi=10.1007/BF01217725 | pages=471–480| bibcode=1985CMaPh.100..471P | url=http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.cmp/1104114001 }}</ref>

A third area mentioned in Atiyah's address is Witten's work relating [[supersymmetry]] and [[Morse theory]],<ref name="Witten 1982 Supersymmetry and Morse theory">{{cite journal | last1=Witten | first1=Edward | title=Super-symmetry and Morse Theory | year=1982 | journal=[[Journal of Differential Geometry]]| pages=661–692 | volume=17| issue=4 | doi=10.4310/jdg/1214437492 | doi-access=free }}</ref> a branch of mathematics that studies the [[topology]] of [[manifolds]] using the concept of a [[differentiable function]]. Witten's work gave a physical proof of a classical result, the [[Morse theory#Morse inequalities|Morse inequalities]], by interpreting the theory in terms of [[supersymmetric quantum mechanics]].<ref name="Witten 1982 Supersymmetry and Morse theory"/>

===M-theory===
By the mid 1990s, physicists working on [[string theory]] had developed five different consistent versions of the theory. These versions are known as [[type I string|type I]], [[type IIA string|type IIA]], [[type IIB string|type IIB]], and the two flavors of [[heterotic string]] theory ([[special orthogonal group|SO(32)]] and [[E8 (mathematics)|E<sub>8</sub>×E<sub>8</sub>]]). The thinking was that of these five candidate theories, only one was the actual correct [[theory of everything]], and that theory was the one whose low-energy limit matched the physics observed in our world today.<ref name="Rickles 2016">{{cite book | last=Rickles | first=Dean | title=A Brief History of String Theory | publisher=Springer | date=2016-08-23 | isbn=978-3-662-50183-2}}</ref>

Speaking at [[Strings (conference)|Strings]] '95 conference at [[University of Southern California]], Witten made the surprising suggestion that these five string theories were in fact not distinct theories, but different limits of a single theory, which he called [[M-theory]].<ref>{{Cite conference
| publisher=University of Southern California
| place=Los Angeles
| series=Future Perspectives in String Theory
| date=13–18 March 1995
| author=Witten, E.
| title=Some problems of strong and weak coupling
| url=http://physics.usc.edu/Strings95/program.html
| access-date=2023-02-01
| website=physics.usc.edu
| archive-date=November 15, 2020
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115210233/http://physics.usc.edu/Strings95/program.html
| url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Witten |first1=Edward |year=1995 |title=String theory dynamics in various dimensions |journal=[[Nuclear Physics B]] |volume=443 |issue=1 |pages=85–126 |doi=10.1016/0550-3213(95)00158-O|arxiv = hep-th/9503124 |bibcode = 1995NuPhB.443...85W |s2cid=16790997 }}</ref> Witten's proposal was based on the observation that the five string theories can be mapped to one another by certain rules called [[String duality|dualities]] and are identified by these dualities. It led to a flurry of work now known as the [[second superstring revolution]].<ref name="Rickles 2016"/>

===Other work===
{{stack|[[File:Gross Witten Hawking TIFR 2001.jpg|thumb|Edward Witten (center) with [[David Gross]] and [[Stephen Hawking]] at [[Strings (conference)|Strings 2001]] at TIFR in  Mumbai, India]]}}

Another of Witten's contributions to physics was to the result of gauge/gravity duality. In 1997, [[Juan Maldacena]] formulated a result known as the [[AdS/CFT correspondence]], which establishes a relationship between certain [[quantum field theories]] and theories of [[quantum gravity]].<ref name="largeN">{{cite journal | author=Juan M. Maldacena | title=The Large N limit of superconformal field theories and supergravity | journal=[[Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics]] | volume=2 | year=1998 | issue=2 | pages=231–252 | arxiv=hep-th/9711200|bibcode = 1998AdTMP...2..231M | doi=10.4310/ATMP.1998.V2.N2.A1 }}</ref> Maldacena's discovery has dominated high-energy theoretical physics for the past 15 years because of its applications to theoretical problems in quantum gravity and quantum field theory. Witten's foundational work following Maldacena's result has shed light on this relationship.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Edward Witten | title=Anti-de Sitter space and holography | journal=[[Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics]] | volume=2 | issue=2 | year=1998 | pages=253–291 | arxiv=hep-th/9802150|bibcode = 1998AdTMP...2..253W | doi=10.4310/ATMP.1998.v2.n2.a2 | s2cid=10882387 }}</ref>

In collaboration with [[Nathan Seiberg]], Witten established several powerful results in quantum field theories. In their paper on string theory and [[noncommutative geometry]], Seiberg and Witten studied certain [[noncommutative quantum field theory|noncommutative quantum field theories]] that arise as limits of string theory.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seiberg |first1=Nathan |last2=Witten |first2=Edward |year=1999 |title=String Theory and Noncommutative Geometry |journal=[[Journal of High Energy Physics]] |volume=1999 | doi = 10.1088/1126-6708/1999/09/032 | page=032 | issue = 9|arxiv = hep-th/9908142 |bibcode = 1999JHEP...09..032S |s2cid=668885 }}</ref> In another well-known paper, they studied aspects of [[supersymmetric gauge theory]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seiberg |first1=Nathan |last2=Witten |first2=Edward |year=1994 |title=Electric-magnetic duality, monopole condensation, and confinement in N=2 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory |journal=[[Nuclear Physics B]] |volume=426 |issue=1 |pages=19–52 |arxiv = hep-th/9407087 |bibcode = 1994NuPhB.426...19S |doi = 10.1016/0550-3213(94)90124-4 |s2cid=14361074 }}</ref> The latter paper, combined with Witten's earlier work on topological quantum field theory,<ref name="tqft" /> led to developments in the topology of [[smooth manifold|smooth]] [[4-manifold]]s, in particular the notion of [[Seiberg–Witten invariant]]s.<ref>{{citation|last=Donaldson|first= Simon K. |author-link=Simon Donaldson |title=The Seiberg-Witten equations and 4-manifold topology. |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society]]| series=(N.S.)  |volume=33  |year=1996|issue= 1|pages= 45–70|doi=10.1090/S0273-0979-96-00625-8 |mr=1339810|doi-access=free}}</ref>

With [[Anton Kapustin]], Witten has made deep mathematical connections between S-duality of gauge theories and the [[geometric Langlands correspondence]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kapustin|first1=Anton|last2=Witten|first2=Edward|date=April 21, 2006|title=Electric-Magnetic Duality And The Geometric Langlands Program|journal=Communications in Number Theory and Physics|volume=1|pages=1–236|arxiv=hep-th/0604151|bibcode=2007CNTP....1....1K|doi=10.4310/CNTP.2007.v1.n1.a1|s2cid=30505126}}</ref> Partly in collaboration with Seiberg, one of his recent interests includes aspects of field theoretical description of topological phases in condensed matter and non-supersymmetric dualities in field theories that, among other things, are of high relevance in condensed matter theory. In 2016, he has also brought tensor models to the relevance of holographic and quantum gravity theories, by using them as a generalization of the [[Sachdev–Ye–Kitaev model]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Witten|first=Edward|date=October 31, 2016|title=An SYK-Like Model Without Disorder|journal=Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical|volume=52|issue=47|pages=474002|arxiv=1610.09758
|doi=10.1088/1751-8121/ab3752|s2cid=118412962}}</ref>

Witten has published influential and insightful work in many aspects of quantum field theories and mathematical physics, including the physics and mathematics of anomalies, integrability, dualities, localization, and homologies. Many of his results have deeply influenced areas in theoretical physics (often well beyond the original context of his results), including string theory, quantum gravity and topological condensed matter.<ref name="Stiftung 2023 Witten">{{cite web | last=Stiftung | first=Joachim Herz | title=News | website=Joachim Herz Stiftung | date=2023-07-03 | url=https://www.joachim-herz-stiftung.de/en/about-us/news/edward-witten | access-date=2024-02-25}}</ref> In particular, Witten is known for collaborating with [[Ruth Britto]] on a method calculating scattering amplitudes known as the [[BCFW recursion|BCFW recursion relations]].

==Awards and honors==
Witten has been honored with numerous awards including a [[MacArthur Fellowship|MacArthur Grant]] (1982), the [[Fields Medal]] (1990), the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (1997),<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> the [[Nemmers Prize in Mathematics]] (2000), the [[National Medal of Science]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Details
| publisher= National Science Foundation
| year = 2003
|url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/recip_details.jsp?recip_id=5000000000422
|access-date=2023-02-01|website=www.nsf.gov}}</ref> (2002), Pythagoras Award<ref>{{Cite news|newspaper=Il Crotonese |language=it |url=http://www.ilcrotonese.it/notizia.asp?IDNotizia=10957&IDCategoria=8 |date=September 23, 2005 |title=Il premio Pitagora al fisico teorico Witten |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722035239/http://www.ilcrotonese.it/notizia.asp?IDNotizia=10957&IDCategoria=8 |archive-date=July 22, 2011 }}</ref> (2005), the [[Henri Poincaré Prize]] (2006), the [[Crafoord Prize]] (2008), the [[Lorentz Medal]] (2010) the [[Isaac Newton Medal]] (2010) and the [[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics]] (2012). Since 1999, he has been a Foreign Member of the [[Royal Society]] (London), and in March 2016 was elected an Honorary Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Current Fellows|url=https://royalsociety.org/fellows/fellows-directory/|access-date=2023-02-01|website=royalsociety.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1200_2016ElectedFellows.html|title = Fellows|date = June 21, 2016|access-date = March 8, 2016|archive-date = March 9, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160309021343/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/1200_2016ElectedFellows.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> [[Pope Benedict XVI]] appointed Witten as a member of the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] (2006). He also appeared in the list of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's [[Time 100|100 most influential people]] of 2004. In 2012, he became a fellow of the [[American Mathematical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellows of the American Mathematical Society|url=http://www.ams.org/cgi-bin/fellows/fellows.cgi|access-date=2023-02-01|website=American Mathematical Society|language=en}}</ref> Witten was elected as a member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1984, a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1988, and a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward Witten|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/edward-witten|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|access-date=May 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Edward Witten|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/48991.html|website=www.nasonline.org|access-date=May 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Edward+Witten&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> In May 2022 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Sciences from the [[University of Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Penn's 2022 Commencement Speaker and Honorary Degree Recipients| access-date=2022-05-30 | url= https://almanac.upenn.edu/articles/penns-2022-commencement-speaker-and-honorary-degree-recipients#:~:text=Penn's%202022%20Commencement%20Speaker%20and%20Honorary%20Degree%20Recipients,-March%201%2C%202022&text=Award%2Dwinning%20documentary%20filmmaker%20Ken,an%20honorary%20degree%20from%20Penn.}}</ref>

In an informal poll at a 1990 cosmology conference, Witten received the largest number of mentions as "the smartest living physicist".<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994019,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901070759/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994019,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 1, 2006 | title=Edward Witten | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=April 26, 2004 | access-date=November 1, 2011 | author=Lemonick, Michael |author-link=Michael Lemonick}}{{pb}}"At a 1990 conference on cosmology," wrote [[John Horgan (American journalist)|John Horgan]] in 2014, "I asked attendees, who included folks like [[Stephen Hawking]], [[Michael Turner (cosmologist)|Michael Turner]], [[Jim Peebles|James Peebles]], [[Alan Guth]] and [[Andrei Linde]], to nominate the smartest living physicist. Edward Witten got the most votes (with [[Steven Weinberg]] the runner-up). Some considered Witten to be in the same league as Einstein and Newton." See {{Cite web |title = Physics Titan Edward Witten Still Thinks String Theory 'on the Right Track' |url = http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2014/09/22/physics-titan-edward-witten-still-thinks-string-theory-on-the-right-track/ |website = scientificamerican.com |date = September 22, 2014 |access-date = October 14, 2014 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Witten has been married to [[Chiara Nappi]], a professor of physics at [[Princeton University]], since 1979.<ref>{{Cite web | last = Witten | first = Ed | title = The 2014 Kyoto Prize Commemorative Lecture in Basic Sciences | url=https://www.sns.ias.edu/ckfinder/userfiles/files/ComemorativeLecturePopular(1).pdf | access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref> They have two daughters and a son. Their daughter [[Ilana B. Witten]] is a neuroscientist at Princeton University,<ref name = "IWitten faculty">{{Cite web | title = Faculty » Ilana B. Witten | url = https://pni.princeton.edu/faculty/ilana-witten | website = princeton.edu | access-date = November 18, 2016 }}</ref> and daughter [[Daniela Witten]] is a biostatistician at the [[University of Washington]].<ref name = "DWitten faculty">{{Cite web | title = UW Faculty » Daniela M. Witten | url = http://faculty.washington.edu/dwitten/ | website = washington.edu | access-date = July 9, 2015 }}</ref>

Witten sits on the board of directors of [[Americans for Peace Now]] and on the advisory council of [[J Street (advocacy group)|J Street]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jstreet.org/supporters/advisory-council |title=Advisory Council|publisher=J Street|year=2016|access-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref> He supports the [[two-state solution]] and advocates a boycott of Israeli institutions and economic activity beyond its 1967 borders, though not of Israel itself.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Bird|first1=Kai|last2=Abraham|first2=David|last3=Witten|first3=Edward|last4=Walzer|first4=Michael|last5=Brooks|first5=Peter|last6=Beinart|first6=Peter|last7=Gitlin|first7=Todd|title=For an Economic Boycott and Political Nonrecognition of the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Territories &#124; Todd Gitlin|language=en|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/10/13/economic-boycott-israeli-settlements/|access-date=2023-02-01|issn=0028-7504}}</ref> Witten lived in Israel for a year in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Edward Witten for Americans for Peace Now |url= https://archive.peacenow.org/entries/archive296 |date= February 8, 2005 |website= Americans for Peace Now |access-date= April 5, 2024 }}</ref>

==Selected publications==
* ''Some Problems in the Short Distance Analysis of Gauge Theories''. [[Princeton University]], 1976. ([[Dissertation]].)
* [[Roman Jackiw]], [[David Gross]], [[Sam B. Treiman]], Edward Witten, [[Bruno Zumino]]. ''Current Algebra and Anomalies: A Set of Lecture Notes and Papers''. World Scientific, 1985.
* [[Michael Green (physicist)|Green, M.]], [[John H. Schwarz]], and E. Witten. ''Superstring Theory. Vol. 1, Introduction''. Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-521-35752-4}}.
* Green, M., John H. Schwarz, and E. Witten. ''Superstring Theory. Vol. 2, Loop Amplitudes, Anomalies and Phenomenology''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988. {{ISBN|978-0-521-35753-1}}.
* ''Quantum fields and strings: a course for mathematicians''. Vols. 1, 2. Material from the Special Year on Quantum Field Theory held at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, 1996–1997. Edited by [[Pierre Deligne]], [[Pavel Etingof]], [[Daniel S. Freed]], [[Lisa C. Jeffrey]], [[David Kazhdan]], [[John Morgan (mathematician)|John W. Morgan]], [[David R. Morrison (mathematician)|David R. Morrison]] and Edward Witten. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI; Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Princeton, NJ, 1999. Vol. 1: xxii+723 pp.; Vol. 2: pp. i–xxiv and 727–1501. {{ISBN|0-8218-1198-3}}, 81–06 (81T30 81Txx).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Scholia|author}}
* [https://www.ias.edu/sns/witten Faculty webpage]
* [https://arxiv.org/find/hep-th/1/au:+Witten_E/0/1/0/all/0/1 Publications on ArXiv]
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Witten}}
* {{MathGenealogy|id=31293}}
* [https://www.quantamagazine.org/edward-witten-ponders-the-nature-of-reality-20171128/ A Physicist's Physicist Ponders the Nature of Reality, Interview with Nathalie Wolchover in ''Quanta Magazine'', November 28, 2017]

{{FRS 1999}}
{{Fields medalists}}
{{Breakthrough Prize laureates}}
{{Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witten, Edward}}
[[Category:1951 births]]
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[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
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[[Category:Princeton University faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Baltimore]]
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[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]