physics

Michael Dine

Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine rather than just read about it. In short: Michael Dine (born 12 August 1953) is an American theoretical physicist, specializing in elementary particle physics, supersymmetry, string theory, and physics beyond the Standard Model. Education and career Dine received in 1974 a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and in 1978 a Ph.D. under Thomas Appelquist from Yale University with thesis Interactions of Heavy Quarks in Quantum Chromodynamics.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Michael Dine (born 12 August 1953) is an American theoretical physicist, specializing in elementary particle physics, supersymmetry, string theory, and physics beyond the Standard Model.

Education and career Dine received in 1974 a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and in 1978 a Ph.D. under Thomas Appelquist from Yale University with thesis Interactions of Heavy Quarks in Quantum Chromodynamics. He did research at SLAC and was for a number of years at the Institute for Advanced Study and the Henry Semat Professor at City College of New York. He is currently a professor at Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dine was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 2006–2007 and Sloan Fellow in 1986. He is a fellow of American Physical Society and in 2010 he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a recipient of the 2018 Sakurai Prize. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in April 2019.

Research Dine works on the "phenomenology" (i.e. experimentally testable models for low energy) of supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model and of superstring theory. In particular, he does research on supersymmetry breaking. Dine investigated in the 1980s modifications of quantum chromodynamics with dynamical supersymmetry breaking (DSB), partly with Ian Affleck and Nathan Seiberg. With Willy Fischler and Mark Srednicki, Dine published in 1981 a theory of supersymmetric technicolor, using gauge bosons and their superpartners, that provided a model of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Dine with Affleck and Seiberg developed a general theory of dynamical supersymmetry breaking in four-dimensional spacetime and with Ann Nelson, Yuri Shirman, and Yosef Nir developed new models of gauge-mediated dynamical supersymmetry breaking. With Fischler and Srednicki he developed an "Invisible Axion" model known as the DFSZ (Dine–Fischler–Srednicki–Zhitnisky) model. Later Dine with Fischler also elaborated this theory and its cosmological implications (the axion is a candidate for a dark matter particle). To explain the matter/antimatter imbalance in the universe, Dine and Ian Affeck proposed the Affleck–Dine mechanism. The Affleck–Dine mechanism might provide a candidate for a dark matter particle, namely a particular type of Q-ball. Dine investigated with Ryan Rohm, Nathan Seiberg and Edward Witten gluino condensation in string theory, with Witten and Seiberg the implications of Fayet–Iliopoulos D-terms for vacuum destabilization, and with X. G. Wen, Seiberg and Witten the non-perturbative effects (instantons) on the worldsheet of strings. He has done extensive research on applications of superstring theory to cosmology.

Selected publications as author:

Supersymmetry and string theory: beyond the standard model. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-1-139-46244-0. Dine, Michael (2015). 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04838-6. as editor:

String theory in four dimensions. Amsterdam: North Holland. 1988. with Thomas Banks & Subir Sachdev: String theory and its applications: TASI 2010, from meV to the Planck scale: Proceedings of the 2010 Theoretical Advanced Study Institute in Elementary Particle Physics (Boulder, Colorado). Singapore: World Scientific. 2011.

References

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Michael Dine on 14 April 2021, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives Michael Dine's homepage, scipp.ucsc.edu "The Strong CP Problem – Michael Dine". YouTube. 18 July 2017.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Michael Dine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine

In research: Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine 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: Michael Dine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, American string theorists, City College of New York faculty, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Michael Dine in simple terms?

Michael Dine (born 12 August 1953) is an American theoretical physicist, specializing in elementary particle physics, supersymmetry, string theory, and physics beyond the Standard Model. Education and career Dine received in 1974 a bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University and in 1978 a Ph.D…

Why does Michael Dine 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 Michael Dine?

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 Michael Dine.