Ezra Theodore Newman (October 17, 1929 – March 24, 2021) was an American physicist, known for his many contributions to

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

theory. He was professor emeritus at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

. Newman was awarded the 2011 Einstein Prize from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

Education

Newman was born in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City to David and Fannie (Slutsky) Newman. Allen G. Debus (1968) ''Who's Who in Science'', page 1250, A. N. Marquis He showed an early interest in science, pondering magnets, match flames, and science books. He was admitted to the

Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science is a State school, public Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in the Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science ...

, where he excelled at physics. Ted's father hoped that he would follow him into dentistry, but instead Ted enrolled at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

to further his study of physics, graduating with a B.A. in 1951. For graduate education he went to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, obtaining an M.A. in 1955 and a Ph.D. the following year.

Career in physics

Newman joined the

faculty in 1956, becoming

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of physics in 1966. He was a visiting professor at Syracuse University in 1960/61 and at Kings College, University of London, in 1964/65. In 1957 he served as consultant at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

. In 1962, together with

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

, he introduced the powerful

Newman–Penrose formalism The Newman–Penrose (NP) formalism The original paper by Newman and Penrose, which introduces the formalism, and uses it to derive example results.Ezra T Newman, Roger Penrose. ''Errata: An Approach to Gravitational Radiation by a Method of Sp ...

for working with

spinor In geometry and physics, spinors (pronounced "spinner" IPA ) are elements of a complex numbers, complex vector space that can be associated with Euclidean space. A spinor transforms linearly when the Euclidean space is subjected to a slight (infi ...

ial quantities in general relativity. The following year he and coworkers extended Abraham H. Taub's solution to the

Einstein field equation In the general theory of relativity, the Einstein field equations (EFE; also known as Einstein's equations) relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it. The equations were published by Albert Einstein in 1915 in the ...

obtaining the

Taub–NUT space The Taub–NUT metric (,McGraw-Hill ''Science & Technology Dictionary'': "Taub NUT space" ) is an exact solutions in general relativity, exact solution to Einstein's equations. It may be considered a first attempt in finding the metric of a spin ...

. He also generalized the

Kerr metric The Kerr metric or Kerr geometry describes the geometry of empty spacetime around a rotating uncharged axially symmetric black hole with a quasispherical event horizon. The Kerr metric is an exact solution of the Einstein field equations of gen ...

developed by

Roy Kerr Roy Patrick Kerr (; born 16 May 1934) is a New Zealand mathematician who discovered the Kerr geometry, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. His solution models the gravitational field outside an uncharged ...

to include a charged body, resulting in the

Kerr–Newman metric The Kerr–Newman metric describes the spacetime geometry around a mass which is electrically charged and rotating. It is a vacuum solution which generalizes the Kerr metric (which describes an uncharged, rotating mass) by additionally taking in ...

. In 1973 he advocated the use of

complex number In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the for ...

s in relativity, and consideration of

complex spacetime Complex spacetime is a mathematical framework that combines the concepts of complex numbers and spacetime in physics. In this framework, the usual real-valued coordinates of spacetime are replaced with complex-valued coordinates. This allows for the ...

. Some of his most interesting recent work has involved the problem of reconstructing the gravitational field within some region from observations of how optical images are lensed as light rays pass through the region. In 2002 an email he forwarded to John C. Baez helped to touch off the

Bogdanov Affair The Bogdanov affair was an academic dispute over the legitimacy of the doctorate, doctoral degrees obtained by French twins Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff, Igor and Grichka Bogdanov (usually spelled ''Bogdanoff'' in French language publications) and ...

. Newman was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1972. In 2011, he was awarded the

Einstein Prize (APS) Since 2003, the Einstein Prize is a biennial prize awarded by the American Physical Society. The recipients are chosen for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of gravitational physics. The prize is named after Albert Einstein (1879–19 ...

"for outstanding contributions to theoretical relativity, including the

, Kerr–Newman solution, Heaven, and null foliation theory, for his intellectual passion, generosity and honesty, which have inspired and represented a model for generations of relativists".

Family

Newman married Sally Faskow on April 20, 1958, with whom he had two children, David E. Newman, a professor of physics at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-, National Sea Grant College Program, sea-, and National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, space-grant research university in ...

, and Dara Newman.

Selected publications

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References

External links

Ezra (Ted) Newman
from

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TEDxPittsburgh - Ted Newman - Thoughts
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Ezra T. 1929 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American physicists American relativity theorists Fellows of the American Physical Society Scientists from the Bronx The Bronx High School of Science alumni New York University alumni Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty