Supergravity

Back to the ideas wall
Who

Formulated in 1976 by Daniel Freedman, Sergio Ferrara and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen; it extends supersymmetry, an idea pioneered in 1971 by the Soviet-Jewish physicist Yuri Golfand.

When

1976 (building on 1971)

Where

Stony Brook, USA (Golfand: Moscow, USSR)

Supergravity, developed in 1976, extends Einstein's general relativity by combining gravity with supersymmetry and remains central to attempts at a unified theory of physics. It builds directly on supersymmetry, first formulated in 1971 by Yuri Golfand, a Jewish physicist in Moscow who was later persecuted as a 'refusenik' and eventually emigrated to Israel.

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.