David Jonathan Gross (born 19 February 1941) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. In 2004, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
He is known for his contributions to the development of the theory of the strong nuclear force, which is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Life and Career
He was born on 19 February 1941, in Washington, D.C., U.S. He got his undergraduate degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1962 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1966.
He has held academic positions at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University.
Gross has made numerous contributions to the field of particle physics, including his work on the electroweak force, which unifies electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces. They discovered that the force between quarks, which are the building blocks of protons and neutrons, becomes weaker at short distances, a phenomenon known as asymptotic freedom.
He has also been involved in the development of string theory, which attempts to describe all fundamental particles and forces in terms of tiny, one-dimensional objects called strings.
In addition to his research, Gross has been an advocate for science education and has served as a scientific advisor to the U.S. government.
He is currently a professor of physics and director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Award
In 2004, Gross was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, for their discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of strong interaction.
He has received numerous other awards and honors for his contributions to physics, including the Dirac Medal and the National Medal of Science.