Dr. Steven Scott Gubser was a distinguished theoretical physicist and professor at Princeton University whose work fundamentally shaped our understanding of string theory and quantum gravity. Born on May 4, 1972, he demonstrated exceptional talent early in his academic career, becoming the first American to win the grand prize at the International Physics Olympiad in 1989. He graduated as valedictorian of Princeton's Class of 1994 with highest honors in physics, earning the American Physical Society's LeRoy Apker Award for his outstanding undergraduate research. After completing a master's degree at Cambridge University as a Fulbright fellow, he returned to Princeton for his doctoral studies under Igor Klebanov, earning his PhD in 1998 before embarking on a distinguished academic career.
Dr. Gubser made seminal contributions to the AdS/CFT correspondence, particularly through his influential 1998 paper Gauge Theory Correlators from Non-Critical String Theory co-authored with Igor Klebanov and Alexander Polyakov, which established the foundational framework now known as the GKPW dictionary. This work, among the most highly cited in theoretical high-energy physics, created precise mathematical relationships between string theory and quantum field theory that have continued to shape research for over two decades. His research broke new ground connecting theoretical models of black holes with real-world many-body systems such as the quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion colliders, and his later work shed new light on high-temperature superconductors. In 2016, he pioneered a novel p-adic version of the AdS/CFT correspondence that applied number theory techniques to quantum field theory, demonstrating his continued innovative thinking throughout his career.
As a founding member of the Princeton Gravity Initiative, Dr. Gubser played a pivotal role in advancing gravitational physics research at Princeton and beyond, while his service as associate chair for undergraduate affairs demonstrated his commitment to education and mentoring future physicists. His work earned him numerous prestigious awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, and a Simons Investigator Award, reflecting the profound impact of his contributions across multiple domains of theoretical physics. Beyond his technical achievements, Dr. Gubser was respected for his clear exposition of complex ideas, exemplified by his widely read book The Little Book of String Theory which made sophisticated concepts accessible to students and enthusiasts. Dr. Gubser's untimely death on August 3, 2019, marked a significant loss for the physics community, but his theoretical frameworks continue to influence research in quantum gravity, particle physics, and condensed matter systems worldwide.
