"Alexander Polyakov, a now at Princeton University, caught a glimpse of the future of in 1981. A range of mysteries, from the wiggling of strings to the binding of s into s, demanded a new mathematical tool whose silhouette he could just make out. ... In his paper he sketched out a formula that roughly described how to calculate averages of a wildly chaotic type of surface, the “.” His work brought physicists into a new mathematical arena, one essential for unlocking the behavior of theoretical objects called strings and building a simplified model of quantum gravity. Years of toil would lead Polyakov to breakthrough solutions for other theories in physics, but he never fully understood the mathematics behind the Liouville field. Over the last seven years, however, a group of mathematicians has done what many researchers thought impossible. In a trilogy of landmark publications, they have recast Polyakov’s formula using fully rigorous mathematical language and proved that the Liouville field flawlessly models the phenomena Polyakov thought it would."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
People from MoscowPhysicists from the United StatesPrinceton University facultyPhysicists from RussiaMembers of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Charlie Wood,
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Markovich_Polyakov
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Alexander Markovich Polyakov
5 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Alexander Markovich Polyakov →
Related Quotes
"We develop a for computing sums over random surfaces which arise in all problems containing (like , three-dimensional…"
"We have no better way of describing elementary particles than quantum field theory. A quantum field in general is an …"
"can be understood in a very simple way by means of the Peierls argument. Namely, while the energy of the string is pr…"
"Based at Princeton University, Polyakov was chosen from a shortlist of three, which included string theorist of the a…"
"The hunter catches a dreadful prey, the seaman steers his ship into an unspeakable harbor, the plowman sows and reaps…"
"You are the king no doubt, but in one respect, at least, I am your equal: the right to reply. I claim that privilege …"
"When Hector heard that challenge he rejoiced and right in the no man's land along his lines he strode, gripping his s…"
"We must realize that growth is but an adolescent phase of life that stops when physical maturity is reached. If growt…"
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is man's inability to understand the exponential function."
"Can you think of any problem in any area of human endeavor on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term …"