Photos 2011 Program

Over 100 participants attended PiTP on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). This was the tenth anniversary of the Program, and this year's schedule offered participants the opportunity to attend three daily lectures, and to work on assigned problems in small groups in the late afternoons. The Scientific Organizers and Lecturers for PiTP 2011 were: Nima Arkani-Hamed (Institute for Advanced Study), Raphael Bousso (University of California, Berkeley), Paolo Creminelli (The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics), William Jones (Princeton University), Juan Maldacena (Institute for Advanced Study), Eva Silverstein (Stanford University), David Spergel (Princeton University), Paul Steinhardt (Princeton University), Leonard Susskind (Stanford University), Tanmay Vachaspati (Arizona State University) and Matias Zaldarriaga (Institute for Advanced Study).

• PiTP lecturers gathered for two group photos during the course of the two-week program: Lecturer Group 1² (from left to right: Maldacena, Creminelli, Silverstein, Zaldarriaga, Arkani-Hamed and Susskind) and Lecturer Group 2² (from left to right: Bousso, Spergel, Zaldarriaga, Arkani-Hamed, Maldacena and Vachaspati). Lecturer not pictured here: William Jones.

• Here you can see Professors Arkani-Hamed³, Jones³, Maldacena¹, Susskind¹, Silverstein¹ and Zaldarriaga³ speaking in Wolfensohn Hall, as participants listened attentively (Wolfensohn 1¹, 2³, 3³).

• Participants were encouraged to approach lecturers with questions after their talks and during the breaks, as seen in these photos of individual discussions with Professors Arkani-Hamed³ (right) and Jones³ (center).

• Morning and afternoon breaks also provided wonderful opportunities for participants to share ideas among themselves: Break 1¹, 2¹, 3¹, 4¹ and 5¹.

All participants, lecturers and organizers were invited to attend two special dinners during the program. During the first week, a Welcome Dinner was hosted in the Institute Dining Hall by Dr. Peter Goddard, Director of the Institute, and Mrs. Helen Goddard. This dinner provided a wonderful opportunity for participants to mingle further with lecturers like Professor Zaldarriaga² (far right), and to build friendships over drinks and a delicious buffet (Dinner 1², 2² and 3²).  The second week featured a more casual evening gathering, a Pizza and Pool Party² at Olden Farm, that provided additional opportunities for one-on-one discussions with lecturers like Professor Vachaspati² (left), as well as a chance to participate in several informal athletic activities (including badminton², frisbee² and soccer²), plus some cooling pool games²!

As you can see, 2011 was another busy and productive year for the Prospects in Theoretical Physics Program!

¹ Photos by Randall Hagadorn
² Photos by Kate Ablutz
³ Photos by Andrea Kane