Doron Gepner (born March 31, 1956) is an Israeli theoretical physicist. He made important contributions to the study of

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interac ...

two-dimensional conformal field theory A two-dimensional conformal field theory is a quantum field theory on a Euclidean two-dimensional space, that is invariant under local conformal transformations. In contrast to other types of conformal field theories, two-dimensional conformal fie ...

, and integrable models.

Birth and education

Gepner was born in Philadelphia to Israeli parents. He studied mathematics at Technion, Haifa (

B. Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

, 1976) and theoretical physics at the Weizmann Institute, Rehovot (

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

, 1985), where his graduate advisor was Yitzhak Frishman. His early work focused on non-perturbative

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...

in two space-time dimensions.

Research

In 1985–1987 Gepner was a postdoctoral researcher at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He made important contributions to the study of Rational Conformal Field Theory with extended

chiral algebra In mathematics, a chiral algebra is an algebraic structure introduced by as a rigorous version of the rather vague concept of a chiral algebra in physics. In Chiral Algebras, Beilinson and Drinfeld introduced the notion of chiral algebra, which ba ...

s. He also pioneered the use of methods of conformal field theory to study compactifications of

superstring Superstring theory is an theory of everything, attempt to explain all of the Elementary particle, particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetry, supersymmetric String (physics), st ...

and

heterotic string In string theory, a heterotic string is a closed string (or loop) which is a hybrid ('heterotic') of a superstring and a bosonic string. There are two kinds of heterotic string, the heterotic SO(32) and the heterotic E8 × E8, abbreviat ...

Calabi–Yau manifold In algebraic geometry, a Calabi–Yau manifold, also known as a Calabi–Yau space, is a particular type of manifold which has properties, such as Ricci flatness, yielding applications in theoretical physics. Particularly in superstring ...

s. He introduced exactly solvable examples of such compactifications now known as Gepner models. This was an important step in establishing that superstrings and heterotic strings have a

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

of consistent vacua. Later he held research and teaching positions at Princeton University (1987-1989), Weizmann Institute (1989-1993) and California Institute of Technology (1992-1994). Since 1993 he has been an associate professor at the Weizmann Institute. Gepner's later work centered on Rational Conformal Field Theory and its relation with 2D integrable models. Gepner also made notable contributions to the theory of partitions in number theory, finding deep generalizations and analogs of the Rogers–Ramanujan identities.

Students

* Ron Cohen *

Anton Kapustin Anton Nikolayevich Kapustin (born November 10, 1971, Moscow) is a Russian-American theoretical physicist and the Earle C. Anthony Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology. His interests lie in quantum field th ...

* Ernest Baver * Boris Gotkin * Umut Gursoy * Boris Noyvert * Joseph Conlon * Sheshansu Pal * Barak Haim * Genish Arel

References

External links

* http://www.weizmann.ac.il/particle/content/doron-gepner
"Doron Gepner", ''Google Scholar''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gepner, Doron Israeli physicists Princeton University faculty 1956 births Living people String theorists Theoretical physicists