Edward Witten is a Fields Medal-winning American theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to both mathematics and physics. His interests lie in unifying theories of particle physics — building on both quantum field theory and string theory — to which he has applied geometrical and topological ideas.
His research highlights include the application of the Chern–Simons theory to our understanding of knots and 3-manifolds. Edward’s proof of the positive energy theorem of general relativity and his development of the Seiberg–Witten equation have also proved to be important advances.