Prof. Benjamin Svetitsky

Emeritus in School of Physics and Astronomy
ביה"ס לפיזיקה ואסטרונומיה אמריטוס
Prof. Benjamin Svetitsky
Phone: 03-6408870
Fax: 03-6407932
Office: Kaplun, 409

Research

Prof. Benjamin Svetitsky leads a group that applies the methods of lattice gauge theory to models that have been proposed to explain the Standard Model and the Higgs particle without postulating fundamental scalar fields.  These are gauge theories defined at energy scales well beyond that of the Standard Model.  They typically predict new particles that can be seen at or just beyond the limits of the Large Hadron Collider. As gauge theories, they are amenable to numerical simulation with the lattice techniques previously applied to quantum chromodynamics. Their low-energy properties are described by effective field theories, much like the chiral theory that describes low-energy QCD. 

 

Research achievements include: (1) The first calculation of the beta function and the mass anomalous dimension in a variety of gauge theories proposed as walking technicolor models.  This led to the elimination of these theories through their inability to generate physical quark masses. (2) The first numerical study of a model of a composite Higgs boson and a partially composite top quark.  An extensive survey of its spectrum gave a number of predictions for new particles, but the small size of a matrix element of the baryon current calls into question the partial-compositeness mechanism. (3) The construction of effective field theories that describe chiral dynamics and a light dilaton that can appear in technicolor models.  This is essential for interpreting lattice results in the surviving models of this type.

Education

  • S.B., MIT, 1974

  • M.A., Princeton University, 1976

  • Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 1976-1980

  • Ph.D., Princeton University, 1980

Academic Appointments

  • Research Assistant, SLAC, Stanford University 1976-1979

  • Research Associate at SLAC, 1979-1980

  • Research Associate, University of California at Santa Barbara, 1980-1981

  • Research Associate, Cornell University, 1981-1984

  • Research Scientist, MIT, 1984-1988

  • Teaching Associate, Tel Aviv University, 1988-1990

  • Senior Lecturer, Tel Aviv University, 1990-1992

  • Associate Professor, Tel Aviv University, 1992-2006

  • Chairman, Department of Nuclear Physics, Tel Aviv University, 1998-2000, 2002-2005

  • Professor, Tel Aviv University, 2006-2023

  • Director of the Sackler Institute of Theoretical Physics, 2022-2023

  • Professor Emeritus, 2023-present

Awards and Prizes

  • NSF Graduate Fellowship, 1974

  • IBM Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1983

  • Yigal Allon Fellowship, 1990

  • Fellow of the American Physical Society

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