Hermann Nicolai (physicist)

Hermann Nicolai (born July 11, 1952 in Friedberg / Hessen ) is a German theoretical physicist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam - Golm .

Life

Hermann Nicolai studied physics and mathematics at the University of Karlsruhe from 1971 with a diploma in 1975 and received his doctorate in 1978 at the same place under Julius Wess . From 1979 to 1986 he worked at CERN in Geneva as a member of the theory department and completed his habilitation in theoretical physics at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg in 1983 . In 1986 Nicolai accepted a C3 professorship at the University of Karlsruhe. In 1988 he was given a C4 professorship at the University of Hamburg . Since 1997 he has been a Scientific Member and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics ( Albert Einstein Institute ) in Potsdam-Golm, where, among other things, he deals with supergravity and string theory. There he is head of the Quantum Gravity and Unified Field Theories department .

research

In the mid-1980s, Nicolai and Bernard de Wit developed the N = 8 supergravity theory , which arises from the dimensional reduction of the maximally supersymmetrical d = 11 supergravity to four space-time dimensions (d = 4) and in many respects a maximum supersymmetry for has a supergravity theory with a graviton and no particle with a spin greater than 2.

In the 2000s, Nicolai investigated the behavior of gravitational equations near spatiotemporal singularities such as the big bang, which lead to models with chaotic billiards , in the case of classical general relativity in three dimensions. In the case of eleven-dimensional supergravity, this leads to ten-dimensional billiards and the infinite-dimensional hyperbolic Kac-Moody algebra appears as symmetry. contains the largest finite-dimensional exceptional semi-simple complex Lie algebra , which has also been discussed as a candidate by GUTs . Nicolai proposed a purely algebraic description of the universe in areas near the singularity (within Planck time ) via the - symmetry , whereby the space-time dimensions emerge as an emergent phenomenon . ${\ displaystyle E_ {10}}$ ${\ displaystyle E_ {10}}$ ${\ displaystyle E_ {8}}$ ${\ displaystyle E_ {10}}$

Nicolai also sees indications of a special role for in M-theory . ${\ displaystyle E_ {10}}$

He also constructed maximally gauged (N = 16) supergravity theories in three dimensions and their symmetries and investigated generalizations of the variables of loop quantum gravity to supergravity / string theory.

Awards

In 1991 Nicolai was awarded the Klung Wilhelmy Weberbank Prize . In 2010 he was awarded the Albert Einstein Medal and in 2012 he was awarded the Gay Lussac Humboldt Prize .

He is the executive editor of the journal General Relativity and Gravitation .

Fonts (selection)

In addition to the writings cited in the footnotes:

On a New Characterization of Scalar Supersymmetric Theories , Phys. Lett. 89B (1980) 341
with B. de Wit: The Consistency of the S7 Truncation in d = 11 Supergravity , Nucl. Phys. B281 (1987) 211
with B. de Wit and J. Hoppe: On the Quantum Mechanics of Supermembranes , Nucl. Phys. B305 (1988) 545
with H. Samtleben: Maximal Gauged Supergravity in Three-Dimensions , Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (2001) 1686-1689, Arxiv
with T. Damour and M. Henneaux: E10 and a "small tension expansion" of M Theory , Phys. Rev. Lett. 89 (2002) 221601-1-221601-4, Arxiv
with T.Damour: Symmetries, Singularities and the De-Emergence of Space , 2007 Arxiv
with T.Damour and M. Henneaux: Cosmological Billards , Classical and Quantum Gravity, 20 (2003), R 145-200, Arxiv
with Krzsysztof Meissner: Conformal symmetry and the standard model , Physics Letters B 648 (2007) 312, Arxiv
with G. Bossard and C. Hillmann: E7 (7) symmetry in perturbatively quantized N = 8 supergravity , JHEP 2010, Arxiv
with Guillaume Bossard: Counterterms vs. dualities , 2011, Arxiv
Quantum gravity - the view from particle physics , Prague 2013, Arxiv
with Axel Kleinschmidt: E 10: a fundamental symmetry of nature? , Physics in Our Time, Volume 41, 2010, No. 3, pp. 134-140

Web links

Homepage of the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics.
Nicolai's page at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics.
Interview in the newspaper Potsdamer Latest News from March 2013.

Individual evidence

^ De Wit, Nicolai N = 8 Supergravity , Nucl. Phys. B 208, 1982, p. 323
↑ A space-like singularity, described by Belinski, Khalatnikov, Lifschitz (BKL singularity) in general relativity
^ First found by Thibault Damour and Marc Henneaux 2001, Phys. Rev. Lett., Volume 86, p. 4749
↑ Axel Kleinschmidt, Michael Koehn, Hermann Nicolai Supersymmetric quantum cosmological billards , Phys. Rev. D, Volume 80, 2009, p. 061701, Arxiv
↑ Kleinschmidt, Nicolai Cosmological quantum billards , 2009, Arxiv
↑ De Wit, Nicolai, Samtleben Gauged supergravities in 3 dimensions - a panoramic overview , Proc. 27th Johns Hopkins Workshop 2003
^ Awarding of the Einstein Medal to Nicolai

personal data
SURNAME	Nicolai, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German theoretical physicist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 11, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH	Friedberg (Hesse)

[1] De Wit, Nicolai N = 8 Supergravity , Nucl. Phys. B 208, 1982, p. 323

[2] A space-like singularity, described by Belinski, Khalatnikov, Lifschitz (BKL singularity) in general relativity

[3] First found by Thibault Damour and Marc Henneaux 2001, Phys. Rev. Lett., Volume 86, p. 4749

[4] Axel Kleinschmidt, Michael Koehn, Hermann Nicolai Supersymmetric quantum cosmological billards , Phys. Rev. D, Volume 80, 2009, p. 061701, Arxiv

[5] Kleinschmidt, Nicolai Cosmological quantum billards , 2009, Arxiv

[6] De Wit, Nicolai, Samtleben Gauged supergravities in 3 dimensions - a panoramic overview , Proc. 27th Johns Hopkins Workshop 2003

[7] Awarding of the Einstein Medal to Nicolai