Gary Gibbons facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gary Gibbons
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Gary Gibbons at Harvard University, c. 2005
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Gary William Gibbons
1 July 1946 Coulsdon, London, England
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| Education | Purley County Grammar School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) |
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| Thesis | Some aspects of gravitational radiation and gravitational collapse (1973) |
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| Doctoral students | Chris Hull |
Gary William Gibbons (born 1 July 1946) is a British theoretical physicist. He studies the very big things in the universe, like black holes and gravity.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gary Gibbons was born in Coulsdon, a town in Surrey, England. He went to Purley County Grammar School. After that, he studied at the University of Cambridge.
In 1969, he started his research there. His first supervisor was Dennis William Sciama, a famous physicist. When Sciama moved to another university, Gary Gibbons became a student of Stephen Hawking. He earned his PhD from Cambridge in 1973.
Career and Research
Most of Gary Gibbons's career has been spent at the University of Cambridge. He also worked for a time at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Germany during the 1970s. He became a full professor in 1997. In 1999, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. In 2002, he became a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Understanding Black Holes
After finishing his PhD, Gibbons focused on the quantum theory of black holes. He studied how black holes behave like hot objects. With another physicist, Malcolm Perry, he showed that black holes have universal heat-like properties.
He also helped develop the "Euclidean approach" to quantum gravity with Stephen Hawking. This special mathematical method helps scientists understand the thermodynamics of black holes. It explains why black holes have temperature and other heat-related features.
Other Research Areas
In more recent years, Gibbons has explored other complex areas of physics. This includes supergravity, p-branes, and M-theory. These topics are often linked to string theory, which tries to explain how the universe works at its most basic level.
Gary Gibbons is still very interested in how geometry and shapes apply to physics. He looks for ways that different shapes and spaces can help us understand the universe better.
Awards and Recognition
Gary Gibbons was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1999. This award recognized his important work in General Relativity and the Quantum Theory of Gravity.
His work helped us understand how black holes and the universe can have heat-like properties. He also studied how the shape of spacetime can change. He is known worldwide for his contributions to these fields.
