Faculty

WASHINGTON TAYLOR
Professor of Physics

WASHINGTON TAYLOR, Professor of Physics

Name: Washington Taylor IV

Title(s): Professor of Physics

Email: wati at mit.edu

Phone: (617) 258-0729

Assistant: Charles Suggs (617) 253-8363

Address:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Bldg. 6-317
Cambridge, MA 02139

Related Links:

Area of Physics:

Theoretical Particle Physics and Quantum Gravity

Research Interests

Professor Taylor's research interests are centered on basic theoretical questions related to quantum physics and gravity. Some of Taylor's principal research contributions have been in fundamental aspects of string theory, including the physics of D-branes, string field theory, the matrix model formulation of M-theory, and string compactifications. Taylor's work combines mathematical, computational, and physics approaches, and has led to progress on mathematical problems as well as in physics. Taylor's recent research has focused on exploring the large number of apparent solutions to string theory and connections between these solutions and observable particle physics and cosmology. A more detailed description of Taylor's current and past research program can be found here.

Biographical Sketch

Washington Taylor is a Professor of Physics in the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP). Taylor received his BA in mathematics from Stanford, and his PhD in physics from UC-Berkeley in 1993. He came to MIT as a postdoc in the CTP in 1993. Taylor joined the faculty at Princeton University in 1995, and returned to MIT in 1998, where he was appointed the Class of 1942 Career Development Professor in 2000, and became a full professor in 2002. In 2008, Taylor was named a Class of 1960 Fellow for his work in energy education. Taylor has been an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and a DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator.

Taylor teaches undergraduate and graduate courses ranging from electromagnetism to quantum field theory. With Prof. Robert Jaffe, Taylor has recently developed a new course on the Physics of Energy [8.21]. This course, which has been taught each Fall since 2008, is aimed at MIT undergraduates in any major. The course introduces students to the basic physical principles underlying the energy landscape, as well as applications of these principles to energy sources, uses and conversions. Jaffe and Taylor are currently finishing a book "The Physics of Energy", based on material from the course.

Selected Publications

Taylor's publications are mostly available through the online physics archive. More information about Taylor's research, publications, and material from some presentations can be found here.