Chris Hull

Christopher Michael Hull (born 1957)^[1] FRS FInstP^[3] is a professor of theoretical physics at Imperial College London.^[4] Hull is known for his work on string theory, M-theory, and generalized complex structures.^[5] Edward Witten drew partially from Hull's work for his development of M-theory.^[6]

Chris Hull FRS FInstP
Born	Christopher Michael Hull 1957 (age 67–68)[1]
Education	Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Awards	Dirac Medal (IOP) (2003) Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2002)
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical physics
Institutions	Imperial College London
Thesis	The structure and stability of the vacua of supergravity (1983)
Doctoral advisor	Gary Gibbons[2]
Website	imperial.ac.uk/people/c.hull

Education

Hull was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School^[1] and the University of Cambridge where he was a student of King's College, Cambridge and awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 followed by a PhD in 1983 for research supervised by Gary Gibbons.^[2][7]

Career and research

Hull conducts research into quantum gravity, a field that aims to discover a unifying theory of quantum theory and general relativity.^[3] His particular contributions have been made to superstring theory, which models particles and forces as vibrations of 'supersymmetric strings', and supergravity, which combines supersymmetry with general relativity.^[3]

Many mathematical challenges facing quantum gravity are being met through Hull's efforts to bring in, and extend, techniques from geometry and field theory.^[3] His work laid the foundations of M-theory, which brings together apparently competing theories.^[3] Overall success in quantum gravity would revolutionise our understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and the origins of, and evolution, of our Universe.^[3]

He leads a major research programme in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, with investigations that include extended geometries, flux geometries and holographic structures.^[3]

Awards and honours

Hull was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award in 2002 and the Paul Dirac Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics in 2003. He was awarded a Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) Advanced Research fellowship in 1987^{[citation needed]} and an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Senior Research Fellowship in 1996.^{[citation needed]} He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP).^[8]