Piet Hut
Encyclopedia
Piet Hut is a Dutch astrophysicist who has made his career in the United States. Hut is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton. He was born in Utrecht
in The Netherlands.
An accomplished astrophysicist, Hut is best known for the Barnes-Hut simulation
algorithm, developed with Joshua Barnes. By using a tree-based data structure, the Barnes-Hut method significantly speeds up the calculation of the gravitational motion of large numbers of stars, making accessible such problems as collisions between galaxies.
Previously an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Hut was in 1985, at the age of 32, appointed as a full professor at the Institute for Advanced Study
. At the time, he was the youngest professor ever appointed there.
sued Hut in federal district court, seeking to enforce a 1996 agreement in which Hut had promised to resign by mid-2001. According to IAS Director Phillip Griffiths
, Hut had been hired in expectation of his eventually succeeding professor John N. Bahcall
as leader of the astrophysics group, but "was not performing" at the required level. Hut's rebuttal was first, that his work was not inferior but only (to some eyes) unfashionable, and second, that he had been coerced into signing any agreement. Many prominent astrophysicists defended the quality of Hut's work, while others based their support on the importance of academic tenure to creative scholarship. The case was eventually settled out of court, with Hut transferring out of IAS's School of Natural Sciences and into his own school of interdisciplinary studies.
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton. He was born in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
in The Netherlands.
An accomplished astrophysicist, Hut is best known for the Barnes-Hut simulation
Barnes-Hut simulation
The Barnes–Hut simulation is an algorithm for performing an n-body simulation. It is notable for having order O compared to a direct-sum algorithm which would be O....
algorithm, developed with Joshua Barnes. By using a tree-based data structure, the Barnes-Hut method significantly speeds up the calculation of the gravitational motion of large numbers of stars, making accessible such problems as collisions between galaxies.
Previously an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Hut was in 1985, at the age of 32, appointed as a full professor at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
. At the time, he was the youngest professor ever appointed there.
Employment Controversy
In July, 2000, IASInstitute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
sued Hut in federal district court, seeking to enforce a 1996 agreement in which Hut had promised to resign by mid-2001. According to IAS Director Phillip Griffiths
Phillip Griffiths
Phillip Griffiths is an American mathematician, known for his work in the field of geometry, and in particular for the complex manifold approach to algebraic geometry. He was a major developer in particular of the theory of variation of Hodge structure in Hodge theory and moduli theory.He received...
, Hut had been hired in expectation of his eventually succeeding professor John N. Bahcall
John N. Bahcall
John Norris Bahcall was an American astrophysicist, best known for his contributions to the solar neutrino problem, the development of the Hubble Space Telescope and for his leadership and development of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.-Early and family life:Bahcall was born in...
as leader of the astrophysics group, but "was not performing" at the required level. Hut's rebuttal was first, that his work was not inferior but only (to some eyes) unfashionable, and second, that he had been coerced into signing any agreement. Many prominent astrophysicists defended the quality of Hut's work, while others based their support on the importance of academic tenure to creative scholarship. The case was eventually settled out of court, with Hut transferring out of IAS's School of Natural Sciences and into his own school of interdisciplinary studies.
See also
- Barnes–Hut simulation
- n-body problemN-body problemThe n-body problem is the problem of predicting the motion of a group of celestial objects that interact with each other gravitationally. Solving this problem has been motivated by the need to understand the motion of the Sun, planets and the visible stars...
- Institute for Advanced StudyInstitute for Advanced StudyThe Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
- Large-scale structure of the cosmos
- Galaxy formation and evolutionGalaxy formation and evolutionThe study of galaxy formation and evolution is concerned with the processes that formed a heterogeneous universe from a homogeneous beginning, the formation of the first galaxies, the way galaxies change over time, and the processes that have generated the variety of structures observed in nearby...