Randall researches particle physics and cosmology at Harvard, where she is a professor of theoretical physics. Her research concerns elementary particles and fundamental forces, and has involved the study of a wide variety of models, the most recent involving dimensions. She has also worked on supersymmetry, Standard Model observables, cosmological inflation, baryogenesis, grand unified theories, and general relativity.
After her graduate work at Harvard, Randall held professorships at MIT and Princeton University before returning to Harvard in 2001.[8] Professor Randall was the first tenured woman in the Princeton physics department and the first tenured female theoretical physicist at Harvard. (Melissa Franklin was the first tenured woman in the Harvard physics department.)[9][10]
Between the hardback and paperback release of Knocking on Heaven's Door, the quest for the discovery of the Higgs boson was actually completed, a subject discussed in the book. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider found a particle identified as the Higgs boson.[11][12] She said about the discovery, that even if people don't understand everything about it, "what an exciting thing it is that people are excited that there is something fundamentally new that has been discovered."[13] Randall has an e-book entitled Higgs Discovery: The Power of Empty Space. Before the Large Hadron Collider was operating, she wrote an article explaining the discoveries that were expected from using it.[14] She was commonly asked about the misconception that the LHC could make black holes that could destroy the planet.[15] She answered that it was "not even conceivable unless space and gravity are very different from what we thought."[14]
Randall wrote the libretto of the operaHypermusic Prologue: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes on the invitation of the composer, Hèctor Parra, who was inspired by her book Warped Passages.[16]
Randall has helped organize numerous conferences and has been on the editorial board of several major theoretical physics journals.[1][8]
Awards and honors
In autumn 2004, she was the most cited theoretical physicist of the previous five years. Randall was featured in Seed magazine's "2005 Year in Science Icons" and in Newsweek's "Who's Next in 2006" as "one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation". In 2007, Randall was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People (Time 100) under the section for "Scientists & Thinkers". Randall was given this honor for her work in theoretical physics.[19]
Randall is an avid climber.[30] A rockface along the Mill Creek near Dumont in Colorado, is named Lisa Randall Wall after her by a local climbing society.[31] In a climbing accident, after falling from the cliff despite proper safety measures, she injured her heel.[32]
Religious beliefs
When asked whether she believes in God, Randall said:
"... I probably don't believe in God. I think it's a problem that people are considered immoral if they're not religious. That's just not true. This might earn me some enemies, but in some ways they may be even more moral. If you do something for a religious reason, you do it because you'll be rewarded in an afterlife or in this world. That's not quite as good as something you do for purely generous reasons."[33]
Epstein controversy
Randall maintained multiple years of contact with financier and later convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, beginning in 2004.[34] In emails between the two contained in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice, Randall joked with Epstein about his house arrest, which he was placed under after his conviction for soliciting sex with a minor in 2008, as well as Randall's lack of "Jew credit."[34] Randall also visited Epstein's private Caribbean island and flew on his private jet in 2014. When asked to respond to Nature's request for comments, she declined.[35]
↑Robinson, Evan T.R. (June 2, 2009). "Class of 1984: Lisa Randall". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 9, 2018. As a college freshman, Lisa J. Randall '84 stood out for many reasons. In her first semester, she enrolled in Math 55 and Physics 55, the most difficult freshman math and physics classes offered.
"Dangling Particles". Op-ed. The New York Times. September 18, 2005. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
