Alan H. Guth

Biography

Abstract

Alan Guth is Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1986-present). Other institutional affiliations include Harvard University and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. His research interests include the inflationary universe and quantum theory.

Important Dates

February 27, 1947Birth, New Brunswick (N.J.).

1969Obtained SB, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1972Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1974 – 1979Research Associate (1974-1977) and Research Associate II (1977-1979), Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1979 – 1980Research Associate, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

1984 – 1991Physicist, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge (Mass.).

1986 – 1990Member, Executive Committee, Astrophysics Division, American Physical Society.

1986 – presentProfessor (1986-1989); Jerrold Zacharias Professor of Physics (1989-1991); and Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics (1992-present), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1989Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1992Awarded Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, American Physical Society.

Occupation

Astrophysicist.

Places

Birth

New Brunswick (N.J.)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

New York (N.Y.)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Cosmic background radiation.

Cosmology.

Inflationary universe.

Quantum theory.

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

PhD advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on exploration of an early model of how quarks combine to form elementary particles. Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Colleagues

Al'tshuler, B. L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Benedek, George Bernard, 1928-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bertschinger, Edmund William

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Christ, Norman

Both employed at Columbia University.

Coppi, B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Davidson, Ronald C.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Devons, Samuel

Both employed at Columbia University.

Dorfan, Jonathan

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Dresselhaus, M. S.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975

Both employed at Columbia University.

Enge, Harald A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Feinberg, Gerald, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Feshbach, Herman

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Foley, Henry Michael, 1917-1982

Both employed at Columbia University.

Freedman, Daniel Z.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Friedman, Jerome I. (Jerome Isaac), 1930-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Goldstone, Jeffrey

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Happer, William, 1939-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Joannopoulos, J. D. (John D.), 1947-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kaspi, Victoria Michelle, 1967-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kastner, Marc A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ketterle, Wolfgang

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lax, Benjamin

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lederman, Leon M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lee, T. D., 1926-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Luttinger, Joaquin M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Moniz, E.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Morrison, Philip

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Novick, Robert

Both employed at Columbia University.

Page, Lyman A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Perl, Martin L., 1927-2014

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Porkolab, Miklos

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Prescott, Charles

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Quinn, Helen R.

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rainwater, L. James (Leo James), 1917-1986

Both employed at Columbia University.

Randall, Lisa

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Read, Nicholas

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Richter, Burton, 1931-2018

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Rosner, Robert

Both employed at Harvard University.

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ruderman, Malvin A.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Sachs, Allan M. (Allan Maxwell), 1921-1989

Both employed at Columbia University.

Serber, R. (Robert)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Shull, Clifford Glenwood

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Taylor, Richard Edward, 1929-2018

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weinberg, Erick J.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Weiss, Rainer

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wick, G. C. (Gian Carlo)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wilczek, Frank

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997

Both employed at Columbia University.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Additional

Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)

Geller, Margaret J.

Linde, A. D.

Turok, Neil

Institutions

Major Positions

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Research Associate and Research Associate II.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Physicist.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained SB (1969) and PhD in Physics (1972). Associate Professor; Professor; Jerrold Zacharias Professor of Physics; and Victor Weisskopf Professor of Physics.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Research Associate.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

Member, Executive Committee, Astrophysics Division and received 1992 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Laboratory for Nuclear Science [videorecording] 14 May 1992.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Alan Guth, 1987 September 21 and 1988 March 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The worlds of Philip Morrison [video and audio recording], 1986.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Subject

Oral history interview with Andrei Linde, 1987 October 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Neil Turok, 2002 May 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Dicke, 1988 January 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

The inflationary universe : the quest for a new theory of cosmic origins / Alan H. Guth ; with a foreword by Alan Lightman.

Subject

The third culture / by John Brockman.