Paul Steinhardt
Dirac Medalist
Paul J. Steinhardt is the Albert Einstein Professor in Science and Director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science at Princeton University, where he is also on the faculty of both the Department of Physics and the Department of Astrophysical Sciences. His research focuses on the interface between fundamental physics (including particle physics and string theory), general relativity, and astrophysics, with specific interest in the mechanisms for driving inflationary expansion in the early universe, the connection between inflation and elementary particles, and the observational consequences of inflation. Over the last decade, Steinhardt’s research has turned to an alternative known as the “cyclic universe,” in which the big bang is not the beginning of space and time, but rather a bounce from a pre-existing phase of contraction into a phase of expansion accompanied by the creation of hot matter and radiation. Steinhardt earned his Ph.D. in physics at Harvard University and is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
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