Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski

Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski (born June 3, 1993) is an American theoretical physicist from Chicago who studies high energy physics.[2][3] She describes herself as "a proud first-generation Cuban-American and Chicago Public Schools alumna".[4] Her first few months at Harvard's Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature (2014) resulted in discovery of the spin memory effect which predates LIGO's reported discoveries and may be proven as an inexpensive way to detect as well as verify gravitational waves and their net effects during a very rare celestial gravitational lensing event the first week of May 2028 if not sooner via Advanced LIGO [5][6][7][8] Since leaving Harvard, Pasterski has pioneered Celestial Holography. [9] [10][11] She completed her undergraduate studies in three years while still a teenager at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earned her PhD from Harvard University and was a PCTS Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University[12] before joining the faculty of the Perimeter Institute at age 27.[13] According to Google Trends, Pasterski was the #3 Trending Scientist for all of 2017.[14] In 2015, she was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 Science list, named a Forbes 30 under 30 All Star in 2017, and returned as a judge in 2018 as part of Forbes' first ever all-female Science category judging panel.[15]

Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski
Pasterski in 2017
Born (1993-06-03) June 3, 1993 (age 31)
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology (BS)
Harvard University (PhD)
Known forSpin memory effect
PSZ Triangle
AwardsInaugural MIT Freshman Entrepreneurship Award[1]
Scientific career
InstitutionsBoeing Phantom Works
CERN
Perimeter Institute
ThesisImplications of Superrotations (2019)
Doctoral advisorAndrew Strominger

Early life

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Pasterski was born in Illinois on June 3, 1993, to Mark Pasterski and Maria Gonzalez. Her father, an attorney and an electrical engineer, encouraged her to follow her dreams.[16] She enrolled at the Edison Regional Gifted Center in 1998, and graduated from the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in 2010.[17]

She took her first flying lesson in 2003, piloted FAA1 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2005[18] and started building a standard-build Canadian light sport aircraft by 2006.[16] Her first U.S. solo flight was in that aircraft in 2009 after being signed off by her CFI Jay Maynard.[19]

In her 2012 Scientific American 30 under 30 interview, Pasterski named among her scientific heroes Leon Lederman, Dudley Herschbach, and Freeman Dyson, and said she was drawn to physics by Jeff Bezos.[20] She has received job offers from Blue Origin, an aerospace company founded by Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).[21]

Education and academia

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As a sophomore at MIT, Pasterski was part of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.[20] She graduated with a 5.00 undergraduate GPA.[22] While a graduate student at Harvard, she worked with Andrew Strominger.[23] Her early work resulted in discovery of the spin memory effect which may be used to detect or verify the net effects of gravitational waves.[24] She then completed the Pasterski–Strominger–Zhiboedov triangle for electromagnetic memory in a 2015 solo paper[25] that Stephen Hawking cited in early 2016.[26]

Pasterski earned her PhD in physics from Harvard University in May 2019. At age 27, she founded the Celestial Holography Initiative and within six months had hired four post-docs.[13] Pasterski invited Andrew Strominger to join Perimeter's Simons Foundation LOI requesting $8,000,000.00 for Celestial Holography.[27] That collaboration is now underway as the Simons Collaboration on Celestial Holography.[28]

Media coverage

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WIRED's "A New Way to Understand the Universe" and the live broadcast of "What if the Universe is a Hologram?" from CBC's The Current featured the first decade of Pasterski's pioneering work in physics from 2014 thru 2023.[29] [30]

Hawking's citation of Pasterski's solo work on the PSZ Triangle was publicized by actor George Takei when he quoted her on his Twitter account: "Hopefully I'm known for what I do and not what I don't do."[31] The Steven P. Jobs Trust article included in the tweet has been shared 1,200,000 times.[32]

Pasterski's 2016 work in promoting the Let Girls Learn initiative was recognized by an invitation to the White House,[33] a congratulatory message from the White House played on network television,[34] and a two-page spread in Marie Claire's January 2017 issue with former First Lady Michelle Obama.[35]

Pasterski's continuing efforts to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for girls in Cuba has been recognized by the Annenberg Foundation.[36][37]

Pasterski's 2017 work in promoting STEM education for girls in Russia has been recognized by the U.S Embassy in Moscow[38] and by the Moscow Polytech.[39]

International print and television coverage of Pasterski's work has appeared in Russian, Polish, Czech,[40] Spanish, German, Hindi and French: Russia Today, Poland's Angora magazine, DNES magazine in the Czech Republic, People en Español, Jolie in Germany, Vanitha TV in India, Madame magazine in France, le Figaro magazine Paris, Femina magazine in Switzerland, and Marie Claire España.[41][42][43] In 2016, R&B singer Chris Brown posted a page with a video promoting her.[44] Forbes and The History Channel ran stories about Gonzalez Pasterski for their audiences in Mexico and Latin America, respectively.[45][46]

Checking the accuracy of media portrayals, Snopes found that the "viral meme about [the] Harvard University graduate student gets most (but not all) of the facts right." Pasterski and Hawking do not follow each other on Twitter, since neither Hawking nor Pasterski had a Twitter account, Snopes stated instead that "the truth is actually much more interesting" pointing out that two scientific papers published in 2016 and co-authored by Hawking cited two pieces of research co-authored by Pasterski and one written solely by her. Pasterski keeps a list of personal responses to media portrayals on her website.[47]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ "New Freshman Awards recognize exceptional first-year students". News.mit.edu. 27 May 2011. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "Center for the Fundamental Laws of Nature". Harvard University. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  3. ^ "Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski". scholar.google.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  4. ^ "Hertz Foundation Profile". Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  5. ^ "The Future of Alpha Centauri - A rare opportunity for planet hunting in Alpha Centauri a predicted for 2028".
  6. ^ "General Relativity and the 1919 Solar Eclipse".
  7. ^ https://physicsgirl.com/speeddemontalk.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ Nichols, David A.; Strominger, Andrew; Zhiboedov, Alexander (2017). "Spin memory effect for compact binaries in the post-Newtonian approximation". Physical Review D. 95 (8): 084048. arXiv:1702.03300. Bibcode:2017PhRvD..95h4048N. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.084048. S2CID 3487878.
  9. ^ "Sabrina Pasterski | Perimeter Institute".
  10. ^ "Celestial Holography Initiative | Perimeter Institute".
  11. ^ Krishna, Swapna. "Dr. Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski Will Change How You Think About Space". Wired.
  12. ^ "PCTS - Postdoctoral Fellows". Archived from the original on 2020-08-08.
  13. ^ a b "Celestial Holography Initiative | Perimeter Institute". perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  14. ^ "Google Trends 2017". Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  15. ^ "30 Under 30 2018". Forbes. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  16. ^ a b c Bildilli, Jim (January 5, 2011). "Wondering Where The Future of Aviation Is? Wonder No More! Meet Ms. Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski". Midwest Flyer. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  17. ^ "Sabrina Pasterski '10 Profiled by Chicago Tribune". IMSA 360. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09.
  18. ^ "Sabrina". FAA Technical Center. 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  19. ^ "What is your best achievement?" (PDF). Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c 30 Under 30: Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Scientific American profile
  21. ^ "Who's That Girl: Sabrina Pasterski". Hearst UK. 2016. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  22. ^ MacGuill, Dan (27 December 2017). "FACT CHECK: The Remarkable Sabrina Pasterski". Snopes.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Spring 2015 - Harvard University - The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences" (PDF). gsas.harvard.edu. Colloquy Magazine. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  24. ^ Nichols, David A.; Strominger, Andrew; Zhiboedov, Alexander (2017). "Spin memory effect for compact binaries in the post-Newtonian approximation". Physical Review D. 95 (8): 084048. arXiv:1702.03300. Bibcode:2017PhRvD..95h4048N. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.084048. S2CID 3487878.
  25. ^ Pasterski, Sabrina; Strominger, Andrew; Zhiboedov, Alexander (2015). "Asymptotic Symmetries and Electromagnetic Memory". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2017 (9). arXiv:1505.00716. doi:10.1007/JHEP09(2017)154. S2CID 59500056.
  26. ^ Hawking, Stephen W.; Perry, Malcolm J.; Strominger, Andrew (2016). "Soft Hair on Black Holes". Physical Review Letters. 116 (23): 231301. arXiv:1601.00921. Bibcode:2016PhRvL.116w1301H. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.231301. PMID 27341223. S2CID 16198886.
  27. ^ "Three Perimeter researchers launch new Simons Collaboration | PI News". perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  28. ^ "Celestial Kickoff". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  29. ^ Krishna, Swapna. "Dr. Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski Will Change How You Think About Space". Wired.
  30. ^ What if the universe is a hologram?. cbc.ca. Retrieved September 17, 2024
  31. ^ Takei, George (January 20, 2016). "Twitter feed". Twitter.
  32. ^ Halime, Farah (January 12, 2016). "This Millennial Might Be The New Einstein". Ozy.com. Steven P. Jobs Trust. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  33. ^ "White House China Room". Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  34. ^ "Young Women's Honors". YouTube. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  35. ^ Hauser, Brooke (December 12, 2016). "Young Women's Honors". Marie Claire. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  36. ^ "Cuba Is Exhibition September 9, 2017 through March 4, 2018". Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  37. ^ "Delegation to Cuba" (PDF). Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  38. ^ "Spaso House". Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  39. ^ "Gorky Park Polytech Fest". Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  40. ^ "Říká se jí "nový Einstein". Smiřte se s tím, že sci-fi věci jako cestování časem neobjevíme, upozorňuje Pasterski". Seznam Zprávy. May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2019(An interview with Pasterski with Czech subtitles.){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  41. ^ "RT Watching the Hawks". RT. February 4, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  42. ^ "Angora". January 31, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  43. ^ "DNES". March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  44. ^ Brown, Chris (2016). "There's A New Einstein In Town With Answers To The Universe's Biggest Mysteries – And She's A Millenial From Chicago". Archived from the original on October 2, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  45. ^ Gasca, Leticia (2016-03-29). "¿Quién es Sabrina Pasterski?". Forbes Mexico. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  46. ^ "¿La nueva Einstein? Una joven física latina asombra al mundo de la ciencia". The History Channel (Latin America). Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  47. ^ Pasterski, Sabrina Gonzalez. "Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski" (PDF). PhysicsGirl. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  48. ^ "New Freshman Awards recognize exceptional first-year students". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2011-05-27. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  49. ^ "Orloff Awards". MIT. August 8, 2015. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  50. ^ "3 Questions: Marking the 10th anniversary of the Higgs boson discovery". MIT Physics. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  51. ^ "Hertz New Fellows 2015". The Hertz Foundation. 2015. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  52. ^ "Forbes' 30 under 30 2015: Science". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  53. ^ "Marie Claire Magazine: The Unstoppables". Marie Claire. 2016-12-12. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
  54. ^ "Sabrina Pasterski Profile". Forbes. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  55. ^ "Silicon Valley Comic Con - April 21-23, 2017". Silicon Valley Comic Con. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  56. ^ "InStyle". Time. 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  57. ^ "Genius: 100 Visions of the Future 3D-printed book". Genius: 100 Visions of the Future 3D-printed book. Archived from the original on October 8, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  58. ^ "Daily Planet". Retrieved April 10, 2018.[permanent dead link]
  59. ^ "Notable IMSA Alumni – Sabrina Gonzalez Pasterski '10 – Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy". www.imsa.edu. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  60. ^ "Sabrina Pasterski | Perimeter Institute". perimeterinstitute.ca. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
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