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Ezra T. Newman

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Ezra Ted Newman
Roger Penrosewith Newman (right) in 2019
Born(1929-10-17)October 17, 1929
Bronx, New York,U.S.
DiedMarch 24, 2021(2021-03-24)(aged 91)
Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materThe Bronx H.S. of Science
New York University
Syracuse University
Known forNewman–Penrose formalism
Kerr–Newman metric
Scientific career
FieldsGeneral relativity
InstitutionsUniversity of Pittsburgh
ThesisObservables in singular theories by systematic approximation.(1956)
Doctoral advisorPeter Bergmann

Ezra Theodore Newman(October 17, 1929 – March 24, 2021)[1]was an American physicist, known for his many contributions togeneral relativitytheory. He was professor emeritus at theUniversity of Pittsburgh.Newman was awarded the 2011Einstein Prizefrom theAmerican Physical Society.

Education[edit]

Newman was born in theBronx,New York City to David and Fannie (Slutsky) Newman.[2]He showed an early interest in science, pondering magnets, match flames, and science books.[3]

He was admitted to theBronx High School of Science,where he excelled at physics. Ted's father hoped that he would follow him into dentistry, but instead Ted enrolled atNew York Universityto further his study of physics, graduating with a B.A. in 1951. For graduate education he went toSyracuse University,obtaining an M.A. in 1955 and a Ph.D. the following year.[4]

Career in physics[edit]

Newman joined theUniversity of Pittsburghfaculty in 1956, becomingprofessorof physics in 1966. He was a visiting professor at Syracuse University in 1960/61 and at Kings College, University of London, in 1964/65. In 1957 he served as consultant atWright-Patterson Air Force Base.[2]

In 1962, together withRoger Penrose,he introduced the powerfulNewman–Penrose formalismfor working withspinorialquantities in general relativity. The following year he and coworkers extendedAbraham H. Taub's solution to theEinstein field equationobtaining theTaub–NUT space.[5]He also generalized theKerr metricdeveloped byRoy Kerrto include a charged body, resulting in theKerr–Newman metric.

In 1973 he advocated the use ofcomplex numbersin relativity, and consideration ofcomplex spacetime.[6]

Some of his most interesting recent work has involved the problem of reconstructing the gravitational field within some region from observations of how optical images arelensedas light rays pass through the region.

In 2002 an email he forwarded toJohn C. Baezhelped to touch off theBogdanov Affair.

Newman was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1972.[7]In 2011, he was awarded theEinstein Prize (APS)"for outstanding contributions totheoretical relativity,including theNewman–Penrose formalism,Kerr–Newman solution,Heaven, andnull foliationtheory, for his intellectual passion, generosity and honesty, which have inspired and represented a model for generations of relativists ".[4][8][9]

Family[edit]

Newman married Sally Faskow on April 20, 1958,[2]with whom he had two children,David E. Newman,a professor of physics at theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks,and Dara Newman.

Selected publications[edit]

  • Frittelli, Simonetta; Kling, Thomas P.; Newman, Ezra T. (2000). "Image distortion from optical scalars in non perturbative gravitational lensing".Physical Review D.63(2): 023007.arXiv:gr-qc/0011108.Bibcode:2000PhRvD..63b3007F.doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.63.023007.S2CID38841368.
  • Newman, E. T.; Couch, E.; Chinnapared, K.; Exton, A.; Prakash, A.; Torrence, R. J. (1965). "Metric of a rotating charged mass".J. Math. Phys.6(6): 918.Bibcode:1965JMP.....6..918N.doi:10.1063/1.1704351.
  • Newman, E. T.; Penrose, R. (1962). "An approach to gravitational radiation by a method of spin coefficients".J. Math. Phys.3(3): 566.Bibcode:1962JMP.....3..566N.doi:10.1063/1.1724257.

References[edit]

  1. ^"Remembering the life of Ezra Ted Newman (1929–2021)".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  2. ^abcAllen G. Debus(1968)Who's Who in Science,page 1250,A. N. Marquis
  3. ^Basken, Paul (February 13, 2011)."A Humble Heavyweight in Physics Finally Gets His Due".The Chronicle of Higher Education.RetrievedFebruary 16,2022.
  4. ^ab"Ezra (Ted) Newman"(PDF).Physics Matters.Vol. 6.Syracuse University.September 2011. p. 1.Retrieved16 February2022.
  5. ^Newman, E. T.; Tamburino, L. A. & Unti, T. (1963). "Empty-space generalization of the Schwarzschild metric".J. Math. Phys.4(7): 915.Bibcode:1963JMP.....4..915N.doi:10.1063/1.1704018.
  6. ^Newman, E. T. (1973). "Maxwell's equations and complex Minkowski space".Journal of Mathematical Physics.14(1). The American Institute of Physics: 102–103.Bibcode:1973JMP....14..102N.doi:10.1063/1.1666160.
  7. ^"APS Fellow Archive".American Physical Society.Retrieved2018-03-28.
  8. ^"2011 Einstein Prize Recipient".RetrievedNovember 21,2010.
  9. ^"GRG Editor's Choice: Classical mechanics via GR and Maxwell's theory: a bit of magic".General Relativity and Gravitation.50.Springer.19 August 2018.Retrieved16 February2022.

External links[edit]

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