Eva Silverstein (born October 24, 1970) is an American theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and string theorist. She is a professor of physics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and director of the Modern Inflationary Cosmology collaboration within the Simons Foundation Origins of the Universe initiative.

Life, education, and work

Raised in Spokane, Washington, Silverstein is the daughter of Harry S. and Lorinda Knight Silverstein and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School. Her father is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Washington State University in Pullman. Silverstein earned her bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1992 and her doctoral degree from Princeton University four years later. Silverstein's primary research areas include

cosmic inflation In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the early universe. The inflationary epoch lasted from seconds after the conjectured Big Bang singularity ...

, namely the creation of predictive and testable new mechanisms which have enabled systematic understanding of the process and the role of ultraviolet-sensitive qualities in observational cosmology (including string-theoretic versions of large field inflation and novel mechanisms involving inflation interactions); implications of long-range interactions in string theory for black hole physics; and mechanism development for breaking super-symmetry and stabilizing the extra dimensions of string theory. In her work on early-universe cosmology, she makes extensive contributions to string theory and gravitational physics. Her early work included control of tachyon condensation in string theory and resulting resolution of some spacetime singularities (with Joseph Polchinski and others). Other significant research contributions include the construction of the first models of dark energy in string theory, some basic extensions of the AdS/CFT correspondence to more realistic field theories (with

Shamit Kachru Shamit Kachru (born 1970) is a theoretical physicist, a professor of physics at Stanford University, and the Wells Family Director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics. He served as the Stanford Physics Department Chair from 2018 to ...

), as well as the discovery of a predictive new mechanism for

involving D-brane dynamics (with David Tong) which helped motivate more systematic analyses of primordial non-Gaussianity. Silverstein is married to fellow string theorist

; both were doctoral students of Edward Witten.

Academic appointments

*Postdoctoral associate, Rutgers University, 1996–1997 *Assistant professor, SLAC,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, 1997–2001 *Associate professor, SLAC and

Physics Department, Stanford, 2001–2006 *Professor, SLAC and

Physics Department, Stanford, 2006–2016 *Professor,

Physics Department, Stanford, 2006–Present *Professor, University of California Physics Department

Awards and honors

* MacArthur Fellow, 1999 *DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator, 1999–2001 *Sloan Fellowship, 1999–2003 *Bergmann Memorial Award, 2000 *

APS APS or Aps or aps or similar may refer to: Education * Abbottabad Public School * Adarsh Public School, a public school in New Delhi, India * Alamogordo Public Schools * Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico, US school district * Allendale Publ ...

Fellow, 2016 "For fundamental contributions to quantum gravity and early universe cosmology." *

Simons Investigator The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

, 2017 * American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) Elected Fellow, 2020

References

External links

Stanford University: Eva SilversteinList of her papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverstein, Eva 1970 births Living people MacArthur Fellows Harvard University alumni Princeton University alumni Stanford University Department of Physics faculty 21st-century American physicists American women physicists Simons Investigator Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21st-century American women scientists Fellows of the American Physical Society