Marina Huerta (born 1968) is an Argentinian theoretical

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and a physics professor. She is known for her work on quantum entropy in quantum field theory. She has provided a new interpretation of the

Bekenstein bound In physics, the Bekenstein bound (named after Jacob Bekenstein) is an upper limit on the thermodynamic entropy ''S'', or Shannon entropy ''H'', that can be contained within a given finite region of space which has a finite amount of energy—or co ...

. As of 2020, she has 29 peer-reviewed publications with more than 2000 citations. In 2014 she won the New Horizons in Physics -

Breakthrough Prize The Breakthrough Prizes are a set of international awards bestowed in three categories by the Breakthrough Prize Board in recognition of scientific advances. The awards are part of several "Breakthrough" initiatives founded and funded by Yuri Mi ...

for "fundamental ideas about entropy in quantum field theory and quantum gravity". She researches quantum field theory and quantum information at the Centro Atómico Bariloche and the Argentinian research organization: CONICET. She is a professor at the

Instituto Balseiro Balseiro Institute ( es, Instituto Balseiro) is an academic institution that belongs partially to the National University of Cuyo and partially to Argentina's National Atomic Energy Commission. It is located in Bariloche, Río Negro province, Ar ...

of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina where her lectures on special relativity have been filmed and are offered free of charge (in Spanish). The Strings School has published her lectures on entanglement entropy (in English).

Biography

Marina Huerta was born in 1968 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and then moved to the

. She obtained her Ph.D. in physics in the year 2000 after completing a doctoral dissertation on an effective description of the Quantum Hall Effect under the supervision of Guillermo Zemba and Rafael Montemayor.
In 2005 and then in 2014, she spent some time at Princeton's

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

. On the 2014 visit, Huerta researched entanglement entropy which enlightens aspects of quantum field theory inaccessible with any other approach. She was one of the organizers of the workshop 'Quantum Gravity in the Southern Cone' in 2019.

Contributions to physics

Huerta main contribution in theoretical physics is in geometric entropy in quantum field theory, holography, quantum gravity and quantum information theory. She uses interlacing entropy as an indicator of confinement and phase transitions. It is considered the natural order parameter for systems with topological order. Relative entropy's properties give rise to the Bekenstein dimension, energy levels in field theories and the generalized second law. She has provided a new interpretation of the Bekenstein bound using relative entropy and distinguishability of states. Interlacing entropy is essential in holography, which relates quantum gravity theories to non-gravitational field theories with one less dimension. Interlacing is necessary to explain the connectivity of space and to describe physics beyond the event horizon.

Selected publications

*''On the RG running of the entanglement entropy of a circle.'' In: ''

Physical Review ''Physical Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research as well as scientific and literature reviews on all aspects of physics. It is published by the American Physical S ...

D.'' Band 85, 2012, S. 125016 *''Towards a derivation of holographic entanglement entropy.'' In: ''

Journal of High Energy Physics The ''Journal of High Energy Physics'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering the field of high energy physics. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the International School for Advanced Stu ...

'' (JHEP). 1105 (2011) 036 *''Entanglement entropy in free quantum field theory.'' In: ''

Journal of Physics ''Journal of Physics'' is a peer reviewed scientific journal series; it consists of the following journals * '' Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical'' * '' Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics'' * '' Journal of ...

A.'' Band 42, 2009, S. 504007,

Arxiv arXiv (pronounced "archive"—the X represents the Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not peer review. It consists of ...

*''A Finite entanglement entropy and the c-Theorem.'' In: ''

Physics Letters ''Physics Letters'' was a scientific journal published from 1962 to 1966, when it split in two series now published by Elsevier: *''Physics Letters A'': condensed matter physics, theoretical physics, nonlinear science, statistical physics, mathema ...

B.'' Band 600, 2004, S. 142–150

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huerta, Marina 1968 births Scientists from Buenos Aires University of Buenos Aires alumni Theoretical physicists Quantum physicists 21st-century Argentine women scientists 21st-century Argentine physicists Living people National University of Cuyo alumni