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Louise Dolan

Louise Dolan is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Louise Dolan rather than just read about it. In short: Louise Ann Dolan (born April 5, 1950) is an American mathematical physicist and professor of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She does research in theoretical particle physics, gauge theories, gravity, and string theory, and is generally considered to be one of the foremost experts worldwide in this field.

Key takeaways

  • Louise Dolan belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Louise Dolan to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Louise Dolan from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Louise Ann Dolan (born April 5, 1950) is an American mathematical physicist and professor of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She does research in theoretical particle physics, gauge theories, gravity, and string theory, and is generally considered to be one of the foremost experts worldwide in this field. Her work is at the forefront of particle physics today.

Biography After graduating from Wellesley College as a physics major in 1971, she received a Fulbright scholarship and studied at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She received her Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976 and was a junior fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University from 1976 to 1979. She then joined Rockefeller University in New York City as a research associate, and was promoted to assistant professor in 1980, and associate professor in 1982. In 1990, Dolan joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina, department of physics and astronomy, where she now holds the position of university distinguished professor.

Contributions Dolan is responsible for several important discoveries which have furthered the study of elementary particle physics. She co-authored "Symmetry Behavior at Finite Temperature", now regularly cited, in 1974. This paper became a part of the foundation of quantitative analysis of phase transitions in the early universe in cosmological theories and is widely recognized as a seminal work. In 1981 she pioneered the uses of affine algebras in particle physics and her coruscant contributions to string theory have included symmetries in the Type II superstring and integrable structures in super conformal non-abelian gauge theories. Her work has revolutionized string theory, and she is considered to be one of the originators of the field. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and has authored over eighty scientific publications. Dolan is also the principal investigator on a Department of Energy grant, which funds the string theory program at Chapel Hill.

Teaching Professor Dolan regularly instructs graduate level classes related to quantum mechanics at UNC Chapel Hill. These include Quantum Mechanics I and II, Field Theory, Electromagnetism, and Group Theory.

Awards 1971: Wellesley Alumnae Scholarship 1971: Woodrow Wilson Fellowship 1987: Fellow of the American Physical Society 1987: Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award of the American Physical Society 1988: Guggenheim Fellow 2004: Wellesley College Alumnae Achievement Award

References

External links Louise Dolan on INSPIRE-HEP

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Louise Dolan

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Louise Dolan claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Louise Dolan before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Louise Dolan ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Louise Dolan

In research
Louise Dolan appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Louise Dolan in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Louise Dolan is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, 20th-century American physicists, 20th-century American women physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Louise Dolan outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Louise Dolan in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Louise Dolan means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Louise Dolan out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Louise Dolan in simple terms?

Louise Ann Dolan (born April 5, 1950) is an American mathematical physicist and professor of physics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She does research in theoretical particle physics, gauge theories, gravity, and string theory, and is generally considered to be one of the foremo…

Why does Louise Dolan matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Louise Dolan?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Louise Dolan.

Tags

  • 1950 births
  • 20th-century American physicists
  • 20th-century American women physicists
  • 21st-century American mathematicians
  • 21st-century American physicists
  • 21st-century American women mathematicians
  • 21st-century American women physicists
  • American mathematical physicists
  • American particle physicists
  • American quantum physicists
  • American string theorists
  • American women academics

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