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Alexander Vilenkin | |
|---|---|
| Олександр Віленкін; | |
 Vilenkin atHarvard University, 2005 | |
| Born | (1949-05-13)May 13, 1949 (age 75) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University at Buffalo |
| Known for | Eternal inflation Borde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem Cosmic strings |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical cosmology |
| Institutions | Tufts University |
Alexander Vilenkin (Russian:Алекса́ндр Владимирович Виле́нкин;Ukrainian:Олександр Віленкін; born 13 May 1949) is the Leonard Jane Holmes Bernstein Professor of Evolutionary Science and Director of the Institute of Cosmology atTufts University.[2][3] Atheoretical physicist who has been working in the field ofcosmology for 25 years, Vilenkin has written over 260 publications.[4]
As an undergraduate studying physics at theUniversity of Kharkiv, Vilenkin turned down collaborator offer from theKGB, causing him to beblacklisted from pursuing a graduate degree.[5][6] Then he was drafted into a building brigade and later worked at the state zoo as anight watchman while conducting physics research in his spare time.[5][7][8]
In 1976, Vilenkin immigrated to the United States as a Jewish refugee,[7] obtaining hisPh.D. atSUNY Buffalo. His work has been featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles in the United States, Europe,Soviet Union, and Japan, and in many popular books.[citation needed]
Vilenkin is the father of writer and musicianAlina Simone.
In 1982,Paul Steinhardt presented the first model ofeternal inflation, Vilenkin showed that eternal inflation is generic.[9] Furthermore, working with Arvind Borde andAlan Guth, he developed theBorde–Guth–Vilenkin theorem, showing that a period ofinflation must have a beginning and that a period of time must precede it.[10] This represents a problem for the theory of inflation because, without a theory to explain conditions before inflation, it is not possible to determine how likely it is for inflation to have occurred.
He also further developedEdward P. Tryon's idea of quantum creation of theuniverse from aquantum vacuum.[11]
He was elected aFellow of the American Physical Society in 1989"for pioneering research in the application of particle physics to cosmology, and in particular for seminal contributions in the areas of cosmic strings and quantum cosmology".[12]
