Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics

The Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research center at the California Institute of Technology focused on high-energy physics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics, general relativity, and cosmology.^[1] It was founded in 2014.^[2]

Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics

Established	2014
Field of research	Theoretical Physics
Director	Hirosi Ooguri
Faculty	Sean Carroll Alexei Kitaev John Preskill John Schwarz Barry Simon Mark Wise
Location	Pasadena, California, United States
Operating agency	California Institute of Technology
Nobel laureates	David Politzer Kip Thorne

History

The Institute was founded in 2014 with grants from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and funding from the California Institute of Technology itself. It had an initial endowment of over $70 million, a significant amount, particularly when placed in the context of Department of Energy funding for high-energy physics.^[3][4] It is named after Walter Burke, a trustee of Caltech and president of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation.^[5] Its inaugural director is Hirosi Ooguri, a string theorist.