William Unruh

Professor William Unruh FRS

Fellow

Elected: 2001

Contact:

wwwhttp://www.theory.physics.ubc.ca

Biography

William Unruh is renowned for pivotal contributions to the understanding of a range of subtle problems arising at the crossroads of quantum physics, gravitational theory and cosmology. His discovery that what is defined as the vacuum by inertial observers is perceived by an accelerated observer as a thermal bath was instrumental in opening new vistas in fundamental physics and cosmology.

He also showed that black hole evaporation (the Hawking effect) was also found in other situations, opening the possibility of experimental verification of the effect in systems such as Bose–Einstein condensates, nonlinear optical systems, or even in water flow.

Professional positions

Hagler Fellow, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University
Physics Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia

Interest and expertise

Subject groups

Astronomy and physics
- Gravitation, Mathematical and theoretical physics, Quantum theory, Computational physics, Cosmology
Other
- Science education at secondary level
Mathematics
- Applied mathematics and theoretical physics

Keywords

Quantum gravity, quantum field theory, black holes, cosmology, quantum interpretation, gravity analogues, quantum computing

Awards

UK-Canada Rutherford Lecture
On 'Black holes: a theorist's laboratory'.