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Robert Wald is the Charles H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago. His research spans a broad range of topics in classical general relativity, cosmology, and quantum phenomena related to gravity. A significant portion of his work focuses on the theory of black holes, exploring the mathematical and physical analogies between black hole physics and the laws of thermodynamics. He investigates how black holes radiate as perfect black bodies due to quantum particle creation effects, which has led to deep insights into the nature of quantum gravity. In recent years, Wald's main research efforts have concerned the formulation of quantum field theory in the presence of gravity, where gravity is treated classically and quantum fields are managed according to quantum field theory principles. He also studies self-force effects in the motion of small bodies within classical general relativity, rigorously deriving perturbative corrections to geodesic motion and developing self-consistent schemes for determining motion radiation. Furthermore, he has developed a new perturbative framework to analyze the effects of small-scale inhomogeneities in cosmology, demonstrating their limitations in producing accelerated expansion of the universe.
Department of Philosophy