Peter van Nieuwenhuizen

Peter van Nieuwenhuizen is a Dutch theoretical physicist and Professor at Stony Brook University, renowned for his foundational role in the discovery of 4D N = 1 supergravity. He has served as Director of the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics and is celebrated for deep contributions to string theory, supersymmetry, and quantum field theory.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Physics & Mathematics, University of Utrecht (1971) – supervised by Nobel laureate Martinus Veltman

Research Interests:

Van Nieuwenhuizen’s work centers on the mathematical structure of fundamental interactions. His pioneering construction of supergravity—the supersymmetric extension of Einstein’s general relativity—unified spacetime geometry with fermionic symmetries, opening new avenues in quantum gravity and string compactifications. Subsequent investigations span anomaly cancellations in superstrings, dualities in higher-dimensional field theories, and the geometric underpinnings of supersymmetric sigma models.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Dirac Medal, ICTP Trieste (1993)
• Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, APS (2006)
• Ettore Majorana Medal, EMFCSC Erice (2016)
• Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2019, shared with Sergio Ferrara and Daniel Z. Freedman)
• Fellow, American Physical Society
• Corresponding Member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994)
• Corresponding Member, Austrian Academy of Sciences
• Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion (2004)
• Honorary Professor, Technical University of Vienna (2005)

Advising & Institutional Leadership:

At Stony Brook’s C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, van Nieuwenhuizen has mentored numerous doctoral students, including Horațiu Năstase and Shoucheng Zhang. From 1999 to 2002 he succeeded Nobel laureate C. N. Yang as Director of the Institute, providing scientific leadership and fostering an environment for cutting-edge research in quantum field theory and string theory.

Laboratories & Collaborations:

Long-term affiliations include research stays at CERN (Geneva), the University of Paris–Orsay, and Brandeis University, culminating in his permanent position at Stony Brook University where he continues to guide theoretical investigations into the fundamental fabric of the universe.