Abhay Ashtekar
Abhay Vasant Ashtekar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 July 1949 Shirpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Alma mater | University of Bombay University of Texas, Austin University of Chicago |
| Known for | Ashtekar variables Loop quantum gravity Loop quantum cosmology Quasi-local black hole horizons |
| Awards | Member of National Academy of Sciences, first Gravity Prize by the Gravity Research Foundation, Massachusetts, Einstein Prize, The Senior Forschungspreis of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics |
| Institutions | Pennsylvania State University |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Geroch |
Abhay Ashtekar (born July 5, 1949) is an Indian American theoretical physicist known for his work on general relativity, quantum gravity, and cosmology. He is Atherton Professor, Evan Pugh University Professor, and the Eberly Chair in Physics Emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. He also holds Distinguished Visiting Chair appointments at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada and the Raman Research Institute in India.
Ashtekar is the originator of the Ashtekar variables, a reformulation of general relativity that led to the development of loop quantum gravity. He has contributed extensively to loop quantum gravity and its cosmological application, loop quantum cosmology. His research has addressed the asymptotic structure of spacetime, gravitational waves in nonlinear general relativity, quantum geometry at the Planck scale, black hole physics, and the quantum description of the Big Bang.
He has authored or co-authored approximately 300 scientific papers and written or edited nine scholarly books. He has delivered more than 200 plenary lectures at international conferences and workshops.
Ashtekar is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Einstein Prize of the American Physical Society. From 1993 to 2021, he served as the founding director of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos at Penn State.