C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics

In response to a SUNY-wide New York State initiative, Stony Brook University is establishing a new Department of Technology, AI and Society, drawing on the wide experience and knowledge of Stony Brook faculty in the applications of artificial intelligence to scientific research.   One of the areas in which AI holds great promise is in cosmology, where vast data sets will hold keys to the history of the universe.   YITP cosmologist Vivian Miranda will serve on the university-wide committee that will map out a new graduate program, aimed at training "future leaders in the responsible shaping of the societal impact of artificial intelligence (AI)".

The YITP is proud to have participated in the organization and presentation of Stony Brook University's celebration of the broad and deep impact of James Simons (1938 - 2024) on and beyond the campus.   A full-day event was held at the Simons Center auditorium next door, with first-hand testimony from people who worked with Jim, videos that captured his commitment and wit, and a series of mini public lectures describing his mathematical discoveries and the wide-ranging research that his generosity made possible.

A more detailed account of the event, with a link to a video recording can be found at:

https://sbmatters.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-university-honors-jim-simonslegacy-and-impact-on-campus/

YITP faculty member Patrick Meade has been named a 2024 Fellow of the  American Physical Society.   This honor is extended to a small number of Society members annually for distinguished contributions to research and the national scientific community.   Patrick's citation recognizes his "pioneering research and leadership in particle theory and phenomenology, including signatures of gauge-mediated supersymmetry, top partners, long-lived particles, Higgs sectors, phase transitions of the early universe, and the science capabilities of proposed facilities."   Patrick arrived in Stony Brook in 2009, and much of Patrick's work since then has been with students and postdocs here at the Institute.   See here for the university's announcement.

Yichul Choi received a 2024 President's Award for Distinguished Doctoral Students in recognition of "outstanding merit" for his dissertation research, Generalized Symmetries in Quantum Field Theory and Particle Physics. His doctoral research was supervised by Shu-Heng Shao and Zohar Komorgadski.  The concept of generalized symmetries has a special resonance at the YITP, named for its founding director, the originator of the application of nonabelian symmetries to quantum field theory.   Yichul has joined the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton as a Roger Dashen Member.  Other YITP winners of Presidential Awards include Connor Behan (2019), Wolfger Peelars (2016), Mao Zeng (2016), Matt von Hippel (2014), Abhijit Gadde (2012), Leandro Almeida (2010) and Ilmo Sung (2010), Carola Berger (2003), Shu-Chiuan Chang, (2002),  Gianluca Oderda (1999), Shan-Ho Tsai (1998) and Alexander Kusenko (1994).

Waltraut Knop won the John Marburger III Fellowship in Science and Engineering and Mathematics, named for Stony Brook's former president and Director of Brookhaven Laboratory, to continue her projects with advisor Leonardo Rastelli, with new results bridging the gap between quantum fields and string theories.