The C. N. Yang Institute of Theoretical Physics
(YITP) is a research center at Stony Brook
University. In 1965, it was the vision of
then University President J.S. Toll and Physics
Department chair T.A. Pond to create an institute
for theoretical physics and invite the famous
physicist Chen Ning Yang from Institute for
Advanced Study to serve as its director with
the Albert Einstein Professorship of Physics.
While the center is often referred to as "YITP",
this can be confusing as YITP also stands
for the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics
in Japan.
The active research areas of the institute
include: Quantum Field Theory, String Theory,
Mathematical Physics and Statistical Mechanics.
The YITP is situated on top of the Math Tower,
home to the Department of Mathematics which
is connected to the Department of Physics
and the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics
-- therefore the physicists enjoy intimate
interactions with the mathematicians. This
close relationship dates back to the friendship
of C.N. Yang and the mathematician James Harris
Simons.
Founded in 1967, YITP celebrated its 50th
anniversary in 2017. During the time span,
the YITP has produced significant results
in different areas, most notably was the discovery
of Supergravity in 1976 by Peter van Nieuwenhuizen,
Daniel Z. Freedman, and Sergio Ferrara, who
were all working there at the time.
== Directors ==
Chen Ning Yang - first director (1967-1999)
and 1957 Nobel Laureate.
Peter van Nieuwenhuizen - second director
(1999-2002) and co-discoverer of supergravity.
George Sterman - third director (2002-) and
noted field theorist
== 
Notable tenants ==
Luis Álvarez-Gaumé - string theory
Gerald E. Brown - nuclear physics, theoretical
astrophysics
Michael Creutz - lattice gauge theory, computational
physics
Michael Douglas - string theory
Vladimir Korepin - mathematical physics
Barry M. McCoy - statistical mechanics and
conformal field theory
Nikita Nekrasov - mathematical physics
Peter van Nieuwenhuizen - field theory, co-discoverer
of supergravity.
Martin Roček - mathematical physics, string
theory
Warren Siegel - field theory, string theory
George Sterman - field theory, quantum chromodynamics
Alexander Zamolodchikov - condensed matter
physics, field theory
