View source for David Gross

{{Short description|American particle physicist and string theorist}}
{{about|the physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = David Gross
| image             = David Gross LANL.jpg
| caption           = Gross in 2007
| birth_name        = David Jonathan Gross
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1941|2|19}}
| birth_place       = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| fields            = [[Theoretical physics]]
| workplaces        = [[University of California, Santa Barbara]]<br />[[Harvard University]]<br />[[Princeton University]]
| education         = [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] ([[BSc]], [[MSc]])<br />[[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[PhD]])
| thesis_title      = Investigation of the many-body, multichannel partial-wave scattering amplitude
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302328371/
| thesis_year       = 1966
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Geoffrey Chew]]
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = [[Natan Andrei]]<br /> [[Frank Wilczek]]<br />[[Edward Witten]]<br />[[William E. Caswell]]<br />[[Eric D'Hoker]]<br />[[Rajesh Gopakumar]]<br />[[Nikita Nekrasov]] <br /> [[Stephen Bernard Libby]]
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = [[Asymptotic freedom]]<br />[[Heterotic string]]<br />[[Gross–Neveu model]]
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal]] (1988)<br />[[Harvey Prize]] (2000)<br />[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2004)
| signature         = David_Gross_Clean_Autograph.svg
| spouse            = Shulamith Toaff Gross (divorced)<br />Jacquelyn Savani
| children          = 2
| website           = {{URL|https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/gross}}
}}

'''David Jonathan Gross''' ({{IPAc-en|g|r|oʊ|s}}; born February 19, 1941) is an American [[particle physics|theoretical physicist]] and [[string theory|string theorist]]. Along with [[Frank Wilczek]] and [[David Politzer]], he was awarded the 2004 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 2004|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2004/gross/facts/|access-date=2021-01-20|website=NobelPrize.org|language=en-US}}</ref> for their discovery of [[asymptotic freedom]]. Gross is the Chancellor's Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics at the [[Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics]] (KITP) of the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]] (UCSB),<ref>{{Cite web|title=UC Santa Barbara, David Gross|url=https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/gross|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910224617/http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/gross|archive-date=10 September 2012}}</ref> and was formerly the KITP director and holder of their [[Frederick Gluck|Frederick W. Gluck]] Chair in Theoretical Physics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In Depth: David Gross {{!}} The Kavli Foundation|url=https://www.kavlifoundation.org/theoretical-physics-david-gross|access-date=2021-01-12|website=www.kavlifoundation.org|archive-date=13 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113161331/https://www.kavlifoundation.org/theoretical-physics-david-gross|url-status=dead}}</ref> He is also a faculty member in the [[UCSB Physics Department]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Department of Physics - UC Santa Barbara|url=https://physics.ucsb.edu/people?page=1|access-date=2021-01-20|website=physics.ucsb.edu}}</ref> and is affiliated with the Institute for Quantum Studies<ref>{{Cite web|title=Members|url=https://www.chapman.edu/research/institutes-and-centers/quantum-studies/members/index.aspx|access-date=2021-01-20|website=www.chapman.edu|language=en}}</ref> at [[Chapman University]] in California. He is a foreign member of the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title = Foreign Members---Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences|url = http://english.casad.cas.cn/mem/fm/|website = english.casad.cas.cn|access-date = 2016-02-09|archive-date = 22 February 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200222070117/http://english.casad.cas.cn/mem/fm/|url-status = dead}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Gross was born in Washington, D.C., in February 1941 to a [[Jewish]] family from  Austro-Hungary.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nobel.anumuseum.org.il/en/persona/gross-david/ | title=David Gross &#124; אנשי סגולה }}</ref> His grandfather was born in Hungary. His parents were Nora (Faine) and [[Bertram Myron Gross]] (1912–1997). Gross studied in high school at the [[Hebrew University Secondary School]] in [[Jerusalem]]. He received his bachelor's and Master's degree from the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], in 1962. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1966, under the supervision of [[Geoffrey Chew]].

==Research and career==
In 1973, Gross, working with his first graduate student, [[Frank Wilczek]], at Princeton University, discovered [[asymptotic freedom]]—the primary feature of non-Abelian gauge theories—which led Gross and Wilczek to the formulation of [[quantum chromodynamics]] (QCD), the theory of the strong nuclear force. Asymptotic freedom is a phenomenon where the nuclear force weakens at short distances, which explains why experiments at very high energy can be understood as if nuclear particles are made of non-interacting quarks. Therefore, the closer [[quarks]] are to each other, the less the [[strong interaction]] (or [[color charge]]) is between them; when quarks are in extreme proximity, the nuclear force between them is so weak that they behave almost as free particles. The flip side of asymptotic freedom is that the force between quarks grows stronger as one tries to separate them. This is the reason why the nucleus of an atom can never be broken into its quark constituents.

QCD completed the [[Standard Model]], which details the three basic forces of particle physics—the electromagnetic force, the weak force, and the strong force. Gross was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, with Politzer and Wilczek, for this discovery.<ref name=":0" />

Gross, with [[Jeffrey A. Harvey]], [[Emil Martinec]], and [[Ryan Rohm]] also formulated the theory of the [[heterotic string]]. The four were whimsically nicknamed the "Princeton String Quartet."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/science/07stri.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&fta=y String Theory, at 20, Explains It All (or Not)]. NY Times (2004-12-07)</ref> He continues to do research in this field at the KITP.<ref>{{Cite web|last=ORCID|title=David Gross (0000-0002-1485-7107)|url=https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1485-7107|access-date=2021-07-28|website=orcid.org|language=en}}</ref>

He was a junior fellow at [[Harvard University]] (1966–69)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Harvard University. Department of Physics|url=https://history.aip.org/phn/21507004.html|access-date=2021-04-30|website=history.aip.org}}</ref> and a Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics at [[Princeton University]] until 1997, when he began serving as Princeton's Thomas Jones Professor of Mathematical Physics Emeritus.<ref>{{Cite web|title=David Gross {{!}} Department of Physics|url=https://phy.princeton.edu/people/david-gross|access-date=2021-01-12|website=phy.princeton.edu}}</ref>  He has received many honors, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1987 and the Dirac Medal in 1988.

==Activism==
In 2003, Gross was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Humanism and Its Aspirations: Notable Signers|url=https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/signers/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=American Humanist Association|language=en-US}}</ref>

Gross is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]'s [[Office of Science]], the [[National Science Foundation]], and the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Letter from America's Physics Nobel Laureates|url=https://fire.pppl.gov/nobel_bush_fy08_050808.pdf}}</ref>

In 2015, Gross signed the ''[[Mainau Declaration|Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change]]'' on the final day of the 65th [[Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings|Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting]]. The declaration was signed by a total of 76 Nobel Laureates and handed to then-President of the French Republic, François Hollande, as part of the successful [[Paris Climate Change Conference|COP21 climate summit]] in Paris.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mainaudeclaration.org/|title=Mainau Declaration|website=www.mainaudeclaration.org|access-date=2018-01-11}}</ref>

== Family ==
Gross' first wife was Shulamith (Toaff), and they had two children. He also has a stepdaughter by his second wife, Jacquelyn Savani.<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2004/gross-bio.html nobelprize.org]</ref> He has three brothers, including Larry Gross, professor of communication, [[Samuel R. Gross]], professor of law, and [[Teddy Gross|Theodore (Teddy) Gross]], a playwright.

== Honors and awards ==
* [[Sakurai Prize|J. J. Sakurai Prize]], [[American Physical Society]] (1986)<ref>{{Cite web|title=J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics|url=http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/sakurai.cfm|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.aps.org|language=en}}</ref>
* [[MacArthur Fellows Program|Fellowship Prize, MacArthur Foundation]] (1987)<ref>{{Cite web|title=David Gross|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/298/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.macfound.org|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal]], [[International Centre for Theoretical Physics|International Center for Theoretical Physics]] (1988)<ref>{{Cite web|title=ICTP - The Medallists|url=https://www.ictp.it/about-ictp/prizes-awards/the-dirac-medal/the-medallists.aspx|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.ictp.it}}</ref>
* [[Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture|Oscar Klein Medal]], [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences|Royal Swedish Academy]] (2000)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Earlier Lectures - Oskar Klein Centre|url=http://www.okc.albanova.se/research/memorial-lecture/earlier-lectures|access-date=2021-05-06|website=www.okc.albanova.se|archive-date=4 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104135719/http://www.okc.albanova.se/research/memorial-lecture/earlier-lectures|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Harvey Prize]], [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology|Technion-Israel Institute of Technology]] (2000)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prize Winners – Harvey Prize {{!}} פרס הארווי|url=https://harveypz.net.technion.ac.il/harvey-prize-laureates/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=harveypz.net.technion.ac.il}}</ref>
* [[High Energy and Particle Physics Prize]], [[European Physical Society]] (2003)<ref>{{Cite web|title=High Energy Particle Physics Board|url=https://eps-hepp.web.cern.ch/eps-hepp/hepp-prize-awards.php|access-date=2021-05-06|website=eps-hepp.web.cern.ch|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818133406/http://eps-hepp.web.cern.ch/eps-hepp/hepp-prize-awards.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Grande Médaille|Grande Médaille d'Or]], [[French Academy of Sciences]] (2004)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2004-10-05|title=La Grande Médaille 2004 de l'Académie des sciences attribuée au Prix Nobel de physique David J. Gross|url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/archivage_site/presse/communique/nobel_grandemedaille_2004.pdf|url-status=live|website=cademie-sciences.fr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208195046/https://www.academie-sciences.fr/archivage_site/presse/communique/nobel_grandemedaille_2004.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-08 }}</ref>
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2004)<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=5 October 2004|title=Nobel honours sub-atomic world|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3716460.stm|access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>
* [[Academy of Achievement|Golden Plate Award, Academy of Achievement]] (2005)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>
* [[Charles Borromeo|San Carlos Borromeo]] Award, [[University of San Carlos]], Philippines (2008)
*Honorary Doctorate in Science, the [[University of Cambodia]] (2010)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Welcome to The University of Cambodia (UC)|url=https://www.uc.edu.kh/ucs/Notable%20People/2/3257/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=www.uc.edu.kh}}</ref>
* Richard E. Prange Prize, [[University of Maryland, College Park|University of Maryland]] (2013)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Awards - UMD Physics|url=https://umdphysics.umd.edu/about-us/awards.html#the-richard-e-prange-prize-and-lectureship-in-condensed-matter-theory-and-related-areas|access-date=2021-01-22|website=umdphysics.umd.edu}}</ref>
* Medal of Honor, [[Joint Institute for Nuclear Research]], Dubna, Russia (2016)<ref>{{Cite web|title=NICA First stone laying ceremony|url=http://www.jinr.ru/posts/nica-first-stone-laying-ceremony-2/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=Joint Institute for Nuclear Research|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=International kudos|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uoc--ik113016.php|access-date=2021-01-22|website=EurekAlert!|language=en}}</ref>

== Memberships in academies and societies ==
* [[NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program]], [[National Science Foundation]] (1963–66)
* Fellowship, [[Sloan Research Fellowship|Alfred P. Sloan Foundation]] (1970–74)<ref>{{Citation|title=Past Fellows|date=1970|url=https://sloan.org/fellowships/nobel-laureates|work=Sloan Research Fellows: Nobel prize winners|volume=Physics|pages=|publisher=Alfred P. Sloan Foundation|doi=|isbn=|access-date=2021-07-19}}</ref>
* Fellow, [[American Physical Society]] (elected 1974)<ref>{{cite web|title=APS Fellow Archive|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1974&unit_id=&institution=Princeton+University}}</ref>
* Member, [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (elected 1985)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/david-jonathan-gross|title = David Jonathan Gross| date=14 December 2023 }}</ref>
* Member, [[National Academy of Sciences]] (elected 1986)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/40349.html|title=David J. Gross}}</ref>
*Fellow, [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] (elected 1987)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elected Fellows {{!}} American Association for the Advancement of Science|url=https://www.aaas.org/fellows/listing|access-date=2021-05-06|website=www.aaas.org|language=en}}</ref>
* Honorary Fellow, [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] (2005)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gross|first=David|date=2005|title=Honorary Fellow|url=https://www.tifr.res.in/portal/honorary_fellows.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406135150/https://www.tifr.res.in/portal/honorary_fellows.php |archive-date=2020-04-06 |access-date=|website=Tata Institute of Fundamental Research}}</ref>
*Member, [[American Philosophical Society]] (elected 2007)<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=David+Gross&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=2007&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-01-23|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
*Honorary Fellow, [[Indian Academy of Sciences]], Bangalore, India (elected 2007)<ref>{{Cite web|last=David|first=Gross|date=2007|title=New Fellows, Indian Science Academy|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Other_Publications/Annual_Reports/annrep2007.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129171308/https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Other_Publications/Annual_Reports/annrep2007.pdf |archive-date=2021-01-29 |access-date=|website=}}</ref>
*Fellow, [[The World Academy of Sciences]] for the developing world (elected 2007)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gross, David|url=https://twas.org/directory/gross-david|access-date=2021-01-22|website=TWAS|language=en}}</ref>
*Member, [[International Academy of Philosophy of Science]] (elected 2009)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Membres - AIPS-AISR-PIIST|url=http://www.lesacademies.net/fr/a-i-p-s/16-membres|access-date=2021-01-23|website=www.lesacademies.net|language=fr-fr}}{{dead link|date=September 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
*Foreign Member, [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] (elected 2011)<ref name=":1" />
*[[:Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences|Foreign Member]], [[Russian Academy of Sciences]] (elected 2016)<ref>{{Cite web|title=International kudos|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/uoc--ik113016.php|access-date=2021-07-19|website=EurekAlert!|language=en}}</ref>
* Elected to a four-year term in the presidential line, the [[American Physical Society]] (2016–2020)<ref>{{Cite web|title=2019 APS President David Gross|url=http://aps.org/publications/apsnews/201903/gross-president.cfm|access-date=2021-01-22|website=aps.org|language=en}}</ref>

== Selected publications ==
{{Refbegin}}
'''Journal articles'''
* {{Cite journal|last1=Gross|first1=David|last2=Wilczek|first2=Frank|title=Ultraviolet Behavior of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories|journal=[[Physical Review Letters]]|volume=30|issue=26|pages=1343–1346|year=1973|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.30.1343|bibcode=1973PhRvL..30.1343G|doi-access=free}}
* D. J. Gross and F. Wilczek, "Asymptotically Free Gauge Theories. I", Phys. Rev. D8 3633 (1973)

'''Technical reports'''
* Wilczek, F. and D. J. Gross. "[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4312175-asymptotically-free-gauge-theories Asymptotically Free Gauge Theories. I]," [[National Accelerator Laboratory]], [[Princeton University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (July 1973).
* Gross, D. J. and S. B. Treiman. "[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4239303-hadronic-form-factors-asymptotically-free-field-theories Hadronic Form Factors in Asymptotically Free Field Theories]," [[Princeton University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), (1974).
* Callan, C. G. Jr., Dashen, R. and D. J. Gross. "[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7284867-instantons-massless-fermions-two-dimensions Instantons and Massless Fermions in Two Dimensions]," [[Princeton University]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[Energy Research and Development Administration]]), (May 1977).
* Gross, D. J. "[https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10149912-some-new-old-approaches-qcd Some New/Old Approaches to QCD]," [[Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory]], [[United States Department of Energy]], [[National Science Foundation]], (November 1992).
{{Refend}}

== See also ==

* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}

* [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=david+gross+physics&btnG= David Gross, on Google Scholar]
* [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2004/gross/facts/ David J. Gross, Nobel Prize in Physics 2004] - includes Nobel Lecture, December 8, 2004, "The Discovery of Asymptotic Freedom and the Emergence of QCD"
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3716460.stm Nobel honours sub-atomic world], BBC, October 5, 2004
*[https://arxiv.org/find/hep-th/1/au:+Gross_D/0/1/0/all/0/1 ArXiv papers]
*[https://history.aip.org/phn/11512017.html David J. Gross bio, American Institute of Physics]
*[http://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/ Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP), University of California, Santa Barbara]
*

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 2001-2025}}
{{2004 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Presidents of the American Physical Society}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross, David}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:American string theorists]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Santa Barbara faculty]]
[[Category:American particle physicists]]
[[Category:American theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:Princeton University faculty]]
[[Category:Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Donegall Lecturers of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients]]
[[Category:Santa Fe Institute people]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]]
[[Category:Jewish American physicists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Hebrew University Secondary School alumni]]
[[Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]