Savas Dimopoulos
Encyclopedia
Savas Dimopoulos is a Greek
particle physicist at Stanford University
. He was born in Istanbul
, Turkey
and later moved to Athens
due to ethnic tensions in Turkey during the 1950s and 1960s. Dimopoulos studied as an undergraduate at the University of Houston
. He went to the University of Chicago
and studied under Yoichiro Nambu
for his doctoral studies. After completing his Ph.D. in 1979, he briefly went to Columbia University before taking a faculty position at Stanford University in 1980. During 1981 and 1982 he was also affiliated with the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1994 to 1997 he was on leave from Stanford University and was employed by CERN.
Dimopoulos is well-known for his work on constructing theories beyond the Standard Model
, which are currently being searched for and tested at particle colliders and in other experiments. For example in 1981 he proposed a softly broken SU(5) GUT model with Howard Georgi
, which is one of the foundational papers of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
(MSSM). He also proposed the "ADD" model of large extra dimension
s with Nima Arkani-Hamed
and Gia Dvali
.
In 2006, the American Physical Society
awarded Dimopoulos the Sakurai Prize
, "For his creative ideas on dynamical symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, and extra spatial dimensions, which have shaped theoretical research on TeV-scale physics, thereby inspiring a wide range of experiments."
Dimopoulos has one daughter, Christina.
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
particle physicist at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He was born in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and later moved to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
due to ethnic tensions in Turkey during the 1950s and 1960s. Dimopoulos studied as an undergraduate at the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
. He went to the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and studied under Yoichiro Nambu
Yoichiro Nambu
is a Japanese-born American physicist, currently a professor at the University of Chicago. Known for his contributions to the field of theoretical physics, he was awarded a one-half share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in...
for his doctoral studies. After completing his Ph.D. in 1979, he briefly went to Columbia University before taking a faculty position at Stanford University in 1980. During 1981 and 1982 he was also affiliated with the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. From 1994 to 1997 he was on leave from Stanford University and was employed by CERN.
Dimopoulos is well-known for his work on constructing theories beyond the Standard Model
Beyond the Standard Model
Physics beyond the Standard Model refers to the theoretical developments needed to explain the deficiencies of the Standard Model, such as the origin of mass, the strong CP problem, neutrino oscillations, matter–antimatter asymmetry, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy...
, which are currently being searched for and tested at particle colliders and in other experiments. For example in 1981 he proposed a softly broken SU(5) GUT model with Howard Georgi
Howard Georgi
Howard Mason Georgi III, born January 6, 1947 in San Bernardino, California, is Harvard College Professor and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University...
, which is one of the foundational papers of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
The Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is the minimal extension to the Standard Model that realizes supersymmetry, although non-minimal extensions do exist. Supersymmetry pairs bosons with fermions; therefore every Standard Model particle has a partner that has yet to be discovered...
(MSSM). He also proposed the "ADD" model of large extra dimension
Large extra dimension
In particle physics, models with universal extra dimensions propose that there are one or more additional dimensions beyond the three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension that are observed...
s with Nima Arkani-Hamed
Nima Arkani-Hamed
Nima Arkani-Hamed is a leading Canadian American theoretical physicist with interests in high-energy physics, string theory and cosmology....
and Gia Dvali
Gia Dvali
Georgi Dvali is a professor of physics at LMU Munich and a director at the Max Planck Institute for Physics. He received his Ph.D. in high energy physics and cosmology from Tbilisi State University, Georgia in 1992...
.
In 2006, the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
awarded Dimopoulos the Sakurai Prize
Sakurai Prize
The J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, is presented by the American Physical Society at its annual "April Meeting", and honors outstanding achievement in particle physics theory...
, "For his creative ideas on dynamical symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, and extra spatial dimensions, which have shaped theoretical research on TeV-scale physics, thereby inspiring a wide range of experiments."
Dimopoulos has one daughter, Christina.
Works
- BaryogenesisBaryogenesisIn physical cosmology, baryogenesis is the generic term for hypothetical physical processes that produced an asymmetry between baryons and antibaryons in the very early universe, resulting in the substantial amounts of residual matter that make up the universe today.Baryogenesis theories employ...
at the GUT scale - Early work on technicolorTechnicolor (physics)Technicolor theories are models of physics beyond the standard model that address electroweak symmetry breaking, the mechanism through which elementary particles acquire masses...
- Early work on soft supersymmetry breaking and Gauge coupling unification in the MSSM
- Moduli-mediated millimeter scale forces
- "ADD model" of large extra dimensionLarge extra dimensionIn particle physics, models with universal extra dimensions propose that there are one or more additional dimensions beyond the three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension that are observed...
s, with Nima Arkani-Hamed and Gia Dvali - Split supersymmetrySplit supersymmetryIn particle physics, split supersymmetry is a recent proposal for new physics beyond the Standard Model. It was proposed separately in three papers. The first by James Wells in June 2003 in a more modest form that mildly relaxed the assumption about naturalness in the Higgs potential...
External links
- Papers in the SPIRES database.
- Faculty page at Stanford.