Peter West (physicist) facts for kids

Peter Christopher West, born on December 4, 1951, is a British scientist. He is a theoretical physicist who studies how the universe works. He works at King's College London. He is also a member of the Royal Society, a famous group of top scientists.

In 2006, Professor West became a Fellow of the Royal Society. They recognized him for his work on a theory called supersymmetry. This theory helps explain how all the basic forces and particles in the universe might be connected. His ideas are very important for understanding string theory.

Peter West and his team were among the first to create theories called Type IIA and Type IIB supergravity. These theories combine supersymmetry with general relativity, which is Albert Einstein's theory of gravity. They help explain how tiny "strings" and "branes" (like tiny membranes) behave in the universe.

He also started a research group at King's College London. This group focuses on supersymmetry and string theory.

Early Life and Education

Peter West finished high school at Liverpool College. After that, he went to Imperial College London. He earned his first degree in physics there in 1973.

He continued his studies at Imperial College London. He completed his PhD in 1976. His teacher for his PhD was a famous scientist named Abdus Salam.

After his PhD, Peter West worked in Paris at the École normale supérieure. He also worked again at Imperial College London. In 1978, he moved to King's College London. He has also worked for short periods at other universities around the world. These include places like Stony Brook University in New York and the California Institute of Technology.

What Peter West Studied

Peter West is a leader in the field of supersymmetry. This is a theory that suggests every known particle has a "superpartner." He also applied these ideas to string theory. String theory suggests that the smallest parts of the universe are not tiny dots, but tiny vibrating strings.

He discovered many important things about how supersymmetric theories work. For example, he found out about "supersymmetry nonrenormalization theorems." These help scientists understand how supersymmetry might exist in nature. He also studied theories with many supersymmetries, like the N = 4 supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory.

West helped create two important supergravity theories. These are the IIA theory and, with Paul Howe and John Henry Schwarz, the IIB theory. Supergravity theories combine supersymmetry with gravity. These theories are key to understanding string theory.

Peter West also worked with Kellogg Stelle to improve supergravity theories. They found a way to describe these theories more completely. This helped other scientists build more realistic models of the universe using supersymmetry.

With Ali Chamseddine, West found a new way to describe gravity and supergravity. They showed that these theories could be understood using something called a Yang–Mills theory. This was an important step in proving how supergravity theories are symmetric.

Peter West also worked with André Neveu on something called "gauge covariant string theory." This helped develop how we understand how strings interact.

More recently, West has suggested that a very large mathematical structure, called E11, might be a key symmetry for M-theory. M-theory is a bigger theory that tries to combine all the different string theories. He has shown that this idea includes all the main supergravity theories.

Books by Peter West

• Introduction to Supersymmetry and Supergravity, P. West (1986, revised 1990)
• Introduction to Strings and Branes, P. West (2012)