The traditional SISSA Sciama Colloquium returns on Wednesday June 12th with a very special guest: Ed Witten, from the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, who will hold a special seminar titled "Black Hole Thermodynamics: Then and Now". The event will be held in Aula Magna Budinich (Via Bonomea, 265) starting from 17:00.
Professor Witten will discuss the fundamental concepts of black hole thermodynamics as initially developed in the 1970s, and give insights into the current advancements of the field.
Edward Witten is a renowned American theoretical physicist celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to string theory, topological quantum field theory, and other areas of mathematical physics. Soon after receiving his PhD from Princeton University, Witten became a junior fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows. He then held an
appointment at Princeton University, before moving to the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) in 1987, where he has remained ever since.
His work has significantly influenced topics such as string theory, quantum gravity, and supersymmetric quantum field theories, bridging the gap between physics and pure mathematics. Notably, Witten was the first physicist awarded the Fields Medal in 1990, recognizing his proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. Among his numerous other accolades are the Dirac Medal, the Lorentz Medal, and the Breakthrough Prize. In 2004, he was also listed among Time magazine's 100 most influential people.
The Sciama Colloquium is named in memory of Dennis Sciama, one of the most important cosmologists of the 20th century, and for many years a pillar of the astrophysics field at SISSA.