Faculty
The MIT Physics Department is one of the best places in the world for research and education in physics. We have been ranked the number one physics department since 2002 by US News & World Report.
We have three current and two retired faculty members who have won a Nobel Prize in Physics, nine total since 1964. We have also been the source of innovation in physics education for decades. Eight members of our Department have won the Oersted Medal, the most prestigious award of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
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William Detmold
Professor of Physics
Graduate Program Faculty Coordinator
Graduate Program Faculty Coordinator
Interests are in strong interaction dynamics in theoretical particle and nuclear physics.
Robert Jaffe
Otto (1939) and Jane Morningstar Professor of Science, Post-Tenure
Best known for his research on the quark substructure of matter.
Hong Liu
Professor of Physics
Interested in issues in quantum gravity, such as the quantum nature of black holes and the Big Bang singularity, using the framework of string theory.
Earle Lomon
Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Research interest is quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the dynamics of quarks and gluons.
Ernest Moniz
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, Post-Tenure
Current research interests are centered on energy, science and technology, and national security policy.
John Negele
Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Interested in lattice field theory to solve QCD and thereby understand the structure of nucleons in terms of their quark and gluon constituents.
Krishna Rajagopal
William A. M. Burden Professor of Physics
Probing the properties, microstructure and phase diagram of hot QCD matter, the primordial liquid.
Phiala Shanahan
Class of 1957 Career Development Associate Professor of Physics
Research focuses on particle and nuclear theory and applying machine learning to understand the fundamental interactions of nature.
Iain Stewart
Otto (1939) and Jane Morningstar Professorship in Science
Professor of Physics
Director, Center for Theoretical Physics
Professor of Physics
Director, Center for Theoretical Physics
Designs and applies Effective Field Theories to describe physics at collider experiments and to explore the structure of quantum field theory.
Jesse Thaler
Professor of Physics
Theoretical particle physicist who fuses techniques from QFT and machine learning to address outstanding questions in fundamental physics.
Frank Wilczek
Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics
2004 Nobel Laureate
2004 Nobel Laureate
Known for the discovery of asymptotic freedom, the development of quantum chromodynamics, the invention of axions, and more...
James Edward Young
Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Researched and taught theoretical particle physics, critical phenomena and nuclear physics in the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics.
