Edward Witten
Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.
Edward Witten is a mathematical physicist who does research in M-theory, which is a unification of 5 superstring theories and 11-dimensional supergravity. Superstring/M-theory is a promising candidate to be the unifying theory for the four fundamental physical interactions (gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear) and provides a fundamental link between quantum mechanics and general relativity, previously thought to be incompatible.
Edward Witten is heralded as the foremost mathematical and theoretical physicist in his time and for his contributions to physics and mathematics (especially geometry). The dintinguished mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah said, "Although he is definitely a physicist, his command of mathematics is rivaled by few mathematicians...Time and again he has surprised the mathematical community by his brilliant application of physical insight leading to new and deep mathematical theorems...he has made a profound impact on contemporary mathematics. In his hands physics is once again providing a rich source of inspiration and insight in mathematics." No less significant is Witten's reputation in theoretical physics. Much of the progress in theoretical physics of the last two decades is focused on string theory, and Witten has made more contribution in this area than anyone else. Among the many awards Witten has earned are the Fields Medal in 1990 (mathematics equivalent to Nobel Prize) and the National Medal of Science (2004). He has inspired his colleagues and has sparked what has been called the second revolution in superstring theory. The remaining causes for skepticism about superstring theory have to do with the lack of observational evidence for many of string theorists' claims and with the absence as yet of the underlying, unifying principle which summarizes the whole field. But so profound is the physical insight and so elegant and convincing is the mathematics of string theory that it remains the best candidate for the next step forward towards a unified field theory.