Alexander Vilenkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Владимирович Виле́нкин; Ukrainian: Олександр Віленкін; born 13 May 1949) is the Leonard Jane Holmes Bernstein Professor of Evolutionary Science and Director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts University.[2][3] A theoretical physicist who has been working in the field of cosmology for 25 years, Vilenkin has written over 260 publications.[4]
Alexander Vilenkin | |
|---|---|
| Олександр Віленкін; | |
 Vilenkin at Harvard University, 2005 | |
| Born | May 13, 1949 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University at Buffalo |
| Known for | Eternal inflation Borde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem Cosmic strings |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical cosmology |
| Institutions | Tufts University |
Biography
editAs an undergraduate studying physics at the University of Kharkiv, Vilenkin turned down collaborator offer from the KGB, causing him to be blacklisted from pursuing a graduate degree.[5][6] Then he was drafted into a building brigade and later worked at the state zoo as a night watchman while conducting physics research in his spare time.[5][7][8]
In 1976, Vilenkin immigrated to the United States as a Jewish refugee,[7] obtaining his Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo. His work has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles in the United States, Europe, Soviet Union, and Japan, and in many popular books.[citation needed]
Vilenkin is the father of writer and musician Alina Simone.
Work
editIn 1982, Paul Steinhardt presented the first model of eternal inflation, Vilenkin showed that eternal inflation is generic.[9] Furthermore, working with Arvind Borde and Alan Guth, he developed the Borde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem, showing that a period of inflation must have a beginning and that a period of time must precede it.[10] This represents a problem for the theory of inflation because, without a theory to explain conditions before inflation, it is not possible to determine how likely it is for inflation to have occurred.
He also further developed Edward P. Tryon's idea of quantum creation of the universe from a quantum vacuum.[11]
He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1989 "for pioneering research in the application of particle physics to cosmology, and in particular for seminal contributions in the areas of cosmic strings and quantum cosmology". [12]
Books
edit- Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes A. Vilenkin (Macmillan, July 2006)
- Cosmic Strings and Other Topological Defects by A. Vilenkin, E. P. S. Shellard (paperback – July 31, 2000)
References
edit- ^ American Men and Women of Science, Thomson Gale, 2005.
- ^ "Alexander Vilenkin". Tufts Institute of Cosmology. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ "Named Professorships". Tufts School of Arts and Sciences. Tufts University. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ "Alexander Vilenkin Research References". Research Gate. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
- ^ a b MENCONI, DAVID. "TO FIND HERSELF AS A MUSICIAN, ALINA SIMONE FIRST HAD TO FIND HER RUSSIAN ROOTS Archived November 17, 2017, at the Wayback Machine", Tufts Magazine, 2010.
- ^ Freedman, David H. "The Mediocre Universe", Discover Magazine, 01 February 1996.
- ^ a b STOBER, DAN. "Physicist: Universes pop up ad infinitum", Stanford News, 01 April 2009.
- ^ "John Templeton Foundation". web.archive.org. December 12, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
- ^ Vilenkin, Alexander (1983). "Birth of Inflationary Universes". Phys. Rev. D. 27 (12): 2848–2855. Bibcode:1983PhRvD..27.2848V. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.27.2848.
- ^ Borde, Arvind; Guth, Alan; Vilenkin, Alexander (2003). "Inflationary Spacetimes Are Incomplete in Past Directions". Phys. Rev. Lett. 90 (15): 151301. arXiv:gr-qc/0110012. Bibcode:2003PhRvL..90o1301B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.151301. PMID 12732026. S2CID 46902994.
- ^ Alexander, Vilenkin. "Creation of Universes from Nothing" (PDF). Physics Letters. 117B: 25–28.
- ^ "APS Fellow Archive". APS. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
External links
edit- Publications of Alexander Vilenkin @ INSPIRE-HEP
- Interview with Tufts cosmologist Alex Vilenkin on his new book, "Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes" on the podcast and public radio interview program ThoughtCast.
- Inflationary spacetimes are not past-complete
- Interview with Vilenkin on "New Books in Astronomy"
- Lecture Archived February 22, 2019, at the Wayback Machine by Vilenkin on "Proving the Universe Had a Beginning"