Biosketch
Juan Maldacena is a professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ. He works on quantum field theory, quantum gravity and string theory. He is particularly known for proposing a duality between quantum field theory and gravity, which relates gauge fields, strings and quantum gravity. Maldacena was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1968. He graduated from the Instituto Balseiro in Argentina in 1991 and then received a doctorate from Princeton University in 1996. He was a professor at Harvard before joining the Institute in 2001.
Research Interests
Maldacena is mainly interested in the development of a theory of quantum gravity. He has investigated the properties of black holes using string theory, which is the leading candidate for a theory of quantum gravity. He has studied various aspects of the gauge/gravity duality, both from the gravity and the field theory point of view. He has worked on trying to understand more precisely the connection between strings and quantum fields. He has also studied the application of string theory ideas to cosmology.
Membership Type
Member
Election Year
2013
Primary Section
Section 13: Physics