Jacques Distler
Encyclopedia
Jacques Distler is a physicist
currently working in string theory
. He has been a professor of physics
at the University of Texas at Austin
since 1994.
.
According to citation counts, his single most influential publication is his 1989 paper on conformal field theory
in two dimensions. His earliest paper is Gauge Invariant Superstring Field Theory, co-authored with Andre LeClair and published in 1986 in Nuclear Physics B.
Recently he has studied the "landscape
" of metastable vacua in string theory. In July 2005, he released a paper on this topic. Professor Distler was a member of arXiv's physics advisory board.
He is also known for his blog
Musings: Thoughts on Science, Computing, and Life on Earth, one of the first theoretical physics blogs in the world.
and escaped the German slave camps of World War II
.
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
currently working in string theory
String theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
. He has been a professor of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
since 1994.
Early life and education
Distler was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, where he attended Herzliah High School (Snowdon).Physics career
Before going to Texas, he was assistant professor at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
According to citation counts, his single most influential publication is his 1989 paper on conformal field theory
Conformal field theory
A conformal field theory is a quantum field theory that is invariant under conformal transformations...
in two dimensions. His earliest paper is Gauge Invariant Superstring Field Theory, co-authored with Andre LeClair and published in 1986 in Nuclear Physics B.
Recently he has studied the "landscape
String theory landscape
The string theory landscape or anthropic landscape refers to the large number of possible false vacua in string theory. The "landscape" includes so many possible configurations that some physicists think that the known laws of physics, the standard model and general relativity with a positive...
" of metastable vacua in string theory. In July 2005, he released a paper on this topic. Professor Distler was a member of arXiv's physics advisory board.
He is also known for his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
Musings: Thoughts on Science, Computing, and Life on Earth, one of the first theoretical physics blogs in the world.
Personal life
Distler also maintains a webpage dedicated to his father, who was born in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and escaped the German slave camps of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
External links
- Faculty homepage
- Musings, the blog of Jacques Distler
- SPIRES publication list
- Google-Scholar publication list, for some reason this gives slightly lower citation counts than SPIRES, for example SPIRES gives 907 citations for one paper while Google-Scholar gives a figure of 800