Cumrun Vafa

Cumrun Vafa

Professor in the Harvard Physics Department; world-leading authority in string theory and its applications to astrophysics

Cumrun Vafa is the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics at Harvard University. His primary area of research is string theory, which may provide a framework to unify everything we know about nature, including all particles and the forces between them, in a consistent quantum theory. String theory is at the cross-roads of many fields, including mathematics, particle phenomenology and astrophysics, and Cumrun’s research has involved all these aspects. His recent work involves applying these ideas to come up with predictions for the nature of the dark energy and the fate of our universe. He has received numerous prizes and recognitions for his work on theoretical physics including the 2017 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the 2008 Dirac Medal of ICTP and prizes for his work on mathematical physics from the American Mathematical Society, as well as the American Physical Society. Cumrun is a member of National Academy of Sciences as well as of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Vafa said: “I am delighted to join the advisory board of Copernicus which represents an ambitious but achievable goal of integrating the latest in robotics and space technology and applying it to finding the answer to whether we are alone in the universe, beginning with the solar system.”