Alex Eskin, a mathematician at the University of Chicago, has won the $3 million 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.
The Breakthrough Prizes were founded in 2013 by a group of tech billionaires (as well as multihundred millionaire Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of genomics and biotech company 23andMe). The prizes are awarded each year to researchers in mathematics, fundamental physics and the life sciences. Past winners decide who will win in each category.
An exotic physical phenomenon, involving optical waves, synthetic magnetic fields, and time reversal, has been directly observed for the first time, following decades of attempts. The new finding could lead to realizations of what are known as topological phases, and eventually to advances toward fault-tolerant quantum computers, the researchers say.
The new finding involves the non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm Effect and is reported today in the journal Science by MIT graduate student Yi Yang, MIT visiting scholar Chao Peng (a professor at Peking University), MIT graduate student Di Zhu, Professor Hrvoje Buljan at University of Zagreb in Croatia, Francis Wright Davis Professor of Physics John Joannopoulos at MIT, Professor Bo Zhen at the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT professor of physics Marin Soljacic.
The finding relates to gauge fields, which describe transformations that particles undergo. Gauge fields fall into two classes, known as Abelian and non-Abelian. The Aharonov-Bohm Effect, named after the theorists who predicted it in 1959, confirmed that gauge fields—beyond being a pure mathematical aid—have physical consequences.
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Our mission is to promote the advancement of biomedical technologies which will increase healthy human lifespan.
A 5 year study. In recent years it has been shown to extend the lives of nematodes (or roundworms) by 57% and mice by 6%. In humans, claims abound that metformin-takers are living longer, having fewer cardiovascular episodes and seeing reduced odds of getting cancer.
Groundbreaking TAME trial, which directly targets aging as an endpoint, finally begins this November, reveals lead clinician Dr Nir Barzilai.
Space historian Robert Zimmerman came across images, with the labels “Candidate Landing Site for SpaceX Starship,” in data from the NASA orbiter.
The images of the Martian surface were taken by a high-res camera system called HiRISE onboard the orbiter, and uploaded to the University of Arizona’s website, the institution responsible for operating the camera.
SpaceX’s search for a landing site dates back to 2017, according to Teslarati. Over the past two years, the company has narrowed its search to a massive plains region called Arcadia Planitia. Five of the six potential landing sites shown in the new images are inside this zone.
It’s a bit harder to replace than a stolen credit card if something goes wrong, though.
Programming a quantum computer is a rather different discipline than programming on traditional computers.
Measurements that rely on the physicist’s theory of gravity are letting astronomers view a pulsar in ‘a whole new way.’
