The Center for Theoretical Physics was created in order to provide a suitable environment for theoretical physicists to work together and share experiences and expertise. The center resulted from the perseverance and personal efforts of USC Provost Lloyd Armstrong, Jr. and Caltech President David Baltimore. They envisioned a place where physicists could share and exchange knowledge and pursue new developments. Others instrumental in the yearlong discussions that established the collaboration were Larry Swanson, Dean of Research at the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Tom Tombrello, Chair of Astronomy, Physics and Math at Caltech, Tu-nan Chang, Chair of Physics at USC and Caltech Provost Steve Koonin.
The joint effort officially took off with the scintillating symposium, String Theory at the Millennium, at Caltech in January 2000. There were nearly 300 theoretical physicists in attendance, the top in the field. Among the speakers were Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University; Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann of the Santa Fe Institute; Ed Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study (currently at Caltech); 1999 physics Nobel Prize winning physicist Gerard `tHooft of the University of Utrecht; and one of the originators of string theory John Schwarz of Caltech. The attendees found the symposium extremely valuable and exhilarating.
The Center for Theoretical Physics offices are located on the first floor of Kaprielian Hall on the USC campus. It's taken some time to structure the physical layout in order to maximize meeting and office space, but the attractive offices are now fully functional. The faculty and staff of the Center hosted an open house reception the beginning of March, which was well attended by both USC and Caltech faculty.
The Center hosts day-long workshops twice a week; Wednesday's at the Center on the campus at USC and Friday's at Caltech. The morning is generally given to discussion and interaction among the physicists followed by an invited lecturer on specific aspects of the theory. Recent visitors have included; Ashoke Sen, speaking on the K theory, Edward Witten, whose talk focused on the K theory and its connection to branes in string theory and Michael Green discussing String scattering in the bulk and on the brane.
String theory has been much in the news over the past several months. The Los Angeles Times ran two front page articles in November on string theory. The first on November 16, 1999, discussed space-time and string theory, on which USC's own Elementary Particle Physics group works, and refers to the `Two Times Physics' work of Professor Itzhak Bars, who is now acting director of the Caltech-USC Center for Theoretical Physics. The follow-up article on November 17, 1999, interviewed John Schwarz from Caltech, who is the deputy acting director of the Center.
According to string theory, the most basic ingredients in the universe are no longer point-like particles, the familiar electrons and quarks. Instead, they are unimaginably small vibrating strings of some unknown fundamental stuff. String theory suggests that different configurations of strings produce different harmonic chords. The vibrating string gives rise to the particles, and the way the string vibrates determines each particle's properties. This all takes place in a convoluted landscape of eleven-dimensional space.
Certain approaches to string theory dispense with the notion of space-time completely. Yet, they seem to produce the same set of results as string theories with normal space and time. To some theorists, this strongly suggests that space and time are superfluous. Space and time as fundamental concepts may be about to disappear altogether.
"Our goal is to turn Los Angeles into a center for theoretical physics," said acting director Itzhak Bars. For more information on the Center for Theoretical Physics, please visit the web site at physics.usc.edu/~citusc.
Department of Physics & Astronomy / USC Physics & Astronomy Newsletters /