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Department of Physics
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Savas Dimopoulos

Professor of Physics

The Hamamoto Family Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences



Room 374
Varian Physics Bldg
382 Via Pueblo Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-4060		 savas@stanford.edu

tel 650-723-4231
fax 650-723-9389


Research Interests

Physics Beyond the Standard Model.

Savas Dimopoulos proposed the supersymmetric standard model with Howard Georgi in 1981. This theory made a precise quantitative prediction, the unification of couplings, that has been experimentally confirmed in 1991 by experiments at CERN and SLAC. This established it as the leading theory for physics beyond the standard model. Its main prediction, the existence of supersymmetric particles, will be tested at the large hadron collider beginning in 2007.

He also proposed the possible existence of large new dimensions with Nima Arkani-Hamed and Gia Dvali in 1998. This links the weakness of gravity to the presence of sub-millimeter size dimensions, that are presently searched for in experiments looking for deviations from Newton's law at short distances. In this framework quantum gravity, string theory, and black holes may be experimentally investigated at the large hadron collider.

Most recently he put forward the theory of split supersymmetry with Nima Arkani-Hamed. This theory is motivated by the possible existence of an enormous number of ground states in the fundamental theory, as suggested by the cosmological constant problem and recent developments in string theory and cosmology. It can be tested at the large hadron collider and, if confirmed, it will lend support to the idea that our universe and its laws are not unique and that there is an enormous variety of universes each with its own distinct physical laws.

Honors

  • Hamamoto Family Professorship in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford, 2007
  • Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006)
  • Winner of the 2006 J. J. Sakurai Prize in Theoretical Physics:
    “For his creative ideas on dynamical symmetry breaking, supersymmetry, and extra spatial dimensions, which have shaped theoretical research on TeV-scale physics, thereby inspiring a wide range of experiments.”
  • Winner of the 2006 Tomassoni Prize in Physics.
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow 
  • Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science 
  • Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Houston, Texas

Career History

  • Ph.D., 1978, University of Chicago 
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Columbia University, 1978-79 
  • Assistant, Associate, Full Professor, Stanford University, 1979-Now
  • Visiting Professor, ITP UC Santa Barbara, 1981
  • Associate Professor, Harvard University, 1981-1983
  • Visiting Professor, Boston University, 1989
  • Staff Member, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, 1994-1997

Graduate Students

  • Asimina Arvanitaki
  • Peter Graham
  • Surjeet Rajendran

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