David J. Gross

Biography

Abstract

David Jonathan Gross is Professor of High Energy Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2002-present). Other institutional affiliations include the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) and Princeton University. His research interests include asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction and string theory.

Important Dates

February 19, 1941Birth, Washington (D.C.).

1962Obtained BSc, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

1966Obtained PhD in Physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley (Calif.).

1966 – 1969Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows, Harvard University.

1969 – 1996Assistant Professor to Associate Professor (1969-1986) and Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics (1986-1996), Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1974Fellow, American Physical Society.

1983 – 1987Member (1983-1987) and Chair (1985-1986), Advisory Board, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

1986Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1986Awarded J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, American Physical Society.

1986Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1987Awarded Fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

1997 – 2012Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (1997-2012) and Frederick W. Gluck Chair in Theoretical Physics (2002-present), University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

2002 – presentChancellor's Chair Professor, Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

2004Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with David Politzer and Frank Wilczek "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction".

Occupation

Particle physicist.

Places

Birth

Washington (D.C.)

Undergraduate Education

Jerusalem

Graduate Education

Berkeley (Calif.)

Employment

Princeton (N.J.)

Santa Barbara (Calif.)

Subjects

Asymptotic symmetry (Physics)

Particles (Nuclear physics).

Quantum chromodynamics.

Quantum field theory.

String theory.

Strong interactions (Nuclear physics)

Relationships

People

Family

Gross, Ariela Julie

Daughter.

Gross, Elisheva

Daughter.

Gross, Jacquelyn Savani

Second Wife.

Gross, Larry

Brother.

Gross, Shulamith Toaff

First Wife. Mother of the children.

Meyer, Bertram

Father.

Meyer, Nora Faine

Mother.

Advisors & Collaborators

Chew, Geoffrey F.

Ph.D. advisor at University of California, Berkeley, "Investigation of the Many-Body, MultiChannel Partial-Wave Scattering Amplitude."

Politzer, H. David, 1949-

Shared 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Frank Wilczek "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction".

Wilczek, Frank

Advised by Gross at Princeton University, "Non-abelian gauge theories and asymptotic freedom"; shared 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics along with H. David Politzer "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"; and both employed at Princeton University.

Witten, E.

Advised by Gross at Princeton University, "Some Problems in the Short Distance Analysis of Gauge Theories," and both employed at Princeton University.

Colleagues

Adelberger, Eric G.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Adler, Stephen L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ahlers, G. (Günter)

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Aizenman, Michael

Both employed at Princeton University.

Al'tshuler, B. L.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Austin, Robert H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Awschalom, D. (David)

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bargmann, V. (Valentine), 1908-1989

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bertsch, George F.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bleakney, Walker, 1901-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bloembergen, N.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Chaikin, Paul M.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Christ, Norman

Both employed at Princeton University.

Coleman, Sidney, 1937-2007

Both employed at Harvard University.

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Coppersmith, Susan Nan

Both employed at Princeton University.

Cronin, James W., 1931-2016

Both employed at Princeton University.

Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Princeton University.

Freedman, Stuart J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Haldane, F. Duncan M.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Happer, William, 1939-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hartle, J. B. (James B.)

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Heeger, Alan J.

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Hopfield, John J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Horowitz, Gary T., 1955-

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Jaffe, Arthur, 1937-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kaspi, Victoria Michelle, 1967-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Institute of Theoretical Physics.

Langer, James S.

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Leggett, A. J. (Anthony J.)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Libchaber, Albert J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Lieb, Elliott H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Martin, Paul Cecil, 1931-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Page, Lyman A.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Peale, Stanton Jerrold

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Pollock, Robert Elwood, 1936-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Polyakov, A. M.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Pound, Robert V.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Purcell, Edward M.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Harvard University.

Scalapino, Douglas J.

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Schwarz, John H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Both employed at Harvard University.

Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Smith, Stewart W.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Taylor, Joseph H. (Joseph Hooton)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Tinkham, Michael

Both employed at Harvard University.

Treiman, Sam B.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wightman, A. S. (Arthur Strong), 1922-2013

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wilkinson, David T.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Witherell, Michael S., 1949-

Both employed at Princeton University.

York, James W., Jr., 1939-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows.

Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics

Director.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Department of Physics

Frederick W. Gluck Chair Professor, Theoretical Physics.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Member and Chair, Advisory Board.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Fellow.

American Physical Society

Fellow and received 1986 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Fellowship.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Universitah ha-'Ivrit bi-Yerushalayim

Obtained BSc (1962).

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1966).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

QFT and QCD: past, present, and future [videorecording], 2005 March 18 and 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Selected talks from the International Conference on the History of Original Ideas and Basic Discoveries in Particle Physics [sound recording] / 1994.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Oral history interview with Joseph Polchinski, 2009 March 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Roman Jackiw, 2010 August 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

"Asymptotic Freedom and the Emergence of QCD," in The Rise of the Standard Model: Particle Physics in the 1960s and 1970s, ed. Lillian Hoddeson, Laurie Brown, Michael Riordan, and Max Dresden (New York: Cambridge University Press: 1997), 199-232

Interview about String Theory, from NOVA, The Elegant Universe

The Strong Force: An Interview with Nobel Laureate David Gross. YouTube. Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, UC Santa Barbara. April 29, 2009

Subject

Nobel Prize Biography