physics

Tom Banks (physicist)

Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist) rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Israel Banks (born April 19, 1949 in New York City) is a theoretical physicist and professor at Rutgers University and University of California, Santa Cruz. Work Banks' work centers around string theory and its applications to high energy particle physics and cosmology.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas Israel Banks (born April 19, 1949 in New York City) is a theoretical physicist and professor at Rutgers University and University of California, Santa Cruz.

Work Banks' work centers around string theory and its applications to high energy particle physics and cosmology. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1973. From 1973 to 1977 he was a post doctorate at Tel Aviv University and stayed on first as a lecturer and then as a professor until 1986. He was several times a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (1976–78, 1983–84, 2010). Along with Willy Fischler, Stephen Shenker, and Leonard Susskind, he is one of the four originators of M(atrix) theory, or BFSS Matrix Theory, an attempt to formulate M theory in a nonperturbative manner. Banks proposed a conjecture known as asymptotic darkness—it posits that the physics above the Planck scale is dominated by black hole production. He has often criticized the widely held assumption in the string theory community that background spacetimes with different asymptotics can represent different vacua states of the same theory of quantum gravity. Rather, Banks argues that different asymptotics correspond to different models of quantum gravity. Many of his arguments for this and other ideas are contained in his paper "A Critique of Pure String Theory: Heterodox Opinions of Diverse Dimensions." published in 2003.

Notes

External links Thomas Banks' profile at Scipp with list of publications M Theory as a Matrix Model: A Conjecture A Critique of Pure String Theory: Heterodox Opinions of Diverse Dimensions Tom Banks' Critique of Pure String Theory lecture during Strings 2002 at Cambridge University

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tom Banks (physicist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist)

In research: Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist) 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: Tom Banks (physicist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, 21st-century American physicists, American string theorists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tom Banks (physicist) 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.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Tom Banks (physicist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tom Banks (physicist) in simple terms?

Thomas Israel Banks (born April 19, 1949 in New York City) is a theoretical physicist and professor at Rutgers University and University of California, Santa Cruz. Work Banks' work centers around string theory and its applications to high energy particle physics and cosmology.

Why does Tom Banks (physicist) 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 Tom Banks (physicist)?

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 Tom Banks (physicist).