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Erik Peter Verlinde (born 21 January 1962) is a Dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist. He is the identical twin brother of physicist Herman Verlinde. The Verlinde formula, which is important in conformal field theory and topological field theory, is named after him. His research deals with string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. Currently, he works at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Amsterdam. At a symposium at the Dutch Spinoza-institute on 8 December 2009 he introduced a theory of entropic gravity. In this theory, gravity exists because of a difference in concentration of information in the empty space between two masses and its surroundings; he also extrapolates this to general relativity and quantum mechanics. He said in an interview with the newspaper ''de Volkskrant'',〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://staff.science.uva.nl/~erikv/page15/page13/page13.html )〕 "On the smallest level Newton's laws don't apply, but they do for apples and planets. You can compare this to pressure of gas. Molecules themselves don't have any pressure, but a barrel of gas has." It appears that Verlinde's approach to explaining gravity leads naturally to the correct observed strength of dark energy. ==Biography== Erik Verlinde was born in the Dutch village of Woudenberg on January 21, 1962, together with his identical twin brother, Herman Verlinde.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Website of Erik Verlinde ) 〕 He went to school in the nearby city of Utrecht, where he graduated from the gymnasium in 1980. That fall he began his studies in theoretical physics together with his twin brother at Utrecht University. There he studied with an extraordinary class of students including himself and his brother, Robbert Dijkgraaf, and Kareljan Schoutens (now dean of the faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam). He wrote his Master's ("doctoraal") thesis with Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft.〔 In 1985, Verlinde started work on his PhD at Utrecht University under the formal supervision of Bernard de Wit. He worked together with his twin Herman and Robbert Dijkgraaf, and in practice the trio supervised themselves. The original arrangement was that only one of them would be working on the emerging field of string theory, but in the end all three of them wrote their thesis on the subject. In September 1988 he defended his PhD thesis, which included the Verlinde formula.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Erik Verlinde )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Biografie Erik Verlinde )〕 After his PhD, Verlinde joined the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1993, he was added to the permanent staff of the theory division of CERN in Geneva. At the age of 34 he was appointed full professor of theoretical physics at Utrecht University. Only a few years later, in 1999, he left for Princeton University to take up a professorial position there. In 2003, he returned to the Netherlands to become a professor in the string theory group led by Robbert Dijkgraaf at the University of Amsterdam.〔〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Erik Verlinde」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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