Physicist Frank Wilczek’s unique insights on the nature of reality
- Frank Wilczek
- Aug 22
- 1 min read
Frank Wilczek has one of the most brilliant and original minds in theoretical physics, having come up with the idea of time crystals among much else. Where is his curiosity taking him now?
In June, at a conference set in the picturesque Italian town of Campagna, south-east of Naples, two physicists in a seemingly endless argument over a long-sought theory of fundamental reality caught my attention. From the sidelines, an unassuming figure politely interrupted them.
“I’ve got a slide that might help. Can I put it up?” asked Frank Wilczek. The slide, concisely describing the realms in which this theory may act, swiftly ended the dispute. Among the many luminaries jousting in Campagna, I realised, perhaps only Wilczek had the breadth of expertise to untangle their confusion.
Wilczek is one of the most original physicists alive today, whose achievements seem too numerous for a single mind. He revealed the true workings of one of the four fundamental forces of nature. He proposed the axion, a leading candidate for dark matter. He also predicted bizarre particles called anyons and a state of matter called a time crystal.
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