Edward Witten
Edward Witten
Edward Wittenis an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMathematician
Date of Birth26 August 1951
CountryUnited States of America
agnostic
Im actually, for the most part, a complete agnostic politically.
knows
We know a lot of things, but what we don't know is a lot more.
nature simplicity physics
Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle.
uncertainty-principle doe principles
Quantum mechanics brought an unexpected fuzziness into physics because of quantum uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. String theory does so again because a point particle is replaced by a string, which is more spread out.
important strings theory
One very important aspect of string theory is definitely testable. That was the prediction of supersymmetry, which emerged from string theory in the early '70s.
real nice believe
I just think too many nice things have happened in string theory for it to be all wrong. Humans do not understand it very well, but I just dont believe there is a big cosmic conspiracy that created this incredible thing that has nothing to do with the real world.
trying paper tendencies
I have a tendency, more than most other physicists, to try to figure out everything all at once, before I publish. And even to try to figure out everything in my head, without pencil and paper.
differences knowing
There is a difference between knowing what is true and knowing why it is true
strong block everyday
As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So in physics, lots of the basic building blocks take 20th- or perhaps 21st-century equipment to explore.
understanding bangs consciousness
I have a much easier time imagining how we would understand the big bang, even though we can't do it yet, than I can imagine understanding consciousness.
change space long
In Einstein's general relativity the structure of space can change but not its topology. Topology is the property of something that doesn't change when you bend it or stretch it as long as you don't break anything.
time maps dimensions
As of now, string theorists have no explanation of why there are three large dimensions as well as time, and the other dimensions are microscopic. Proposals about that have been all over the map.
time three four
The theory has to be interpreted that extra dimensions beyond the ordinary four dimensions the three spatial dimensions plus time are sufficiently small that they haven't been observed yet.
achieved basic forces kinds particles unity
Unity of the different forces and particles is achieved because they all come from different kinds of vibrations of the same basic string.