Wow,nature obeys mathematical law

My parents didnt think in those terms. Theyre the children of immigrants from Poland and Italy and rather modest people. I grew up in Queens and went to public schools. As a child,I liked puzzles,figuring out how abstract things might fit together. The big thing in my childhood was that every week my parents took me to a toy store,and I was allowed to pick something out. Did I want a model B-57 or a toy car? I had to make choices and really think about what my priorities were. It moulded my brain to be what it is. I still think that way.

You won your Nobel at 21,right? Can you explain your thesis?

One of the big questions at that time waswhat is the strong force,one of the four basic forces,the most powerful force of nature,that among other things holds atomic nuclei together? There were lots of known facts about the strong force,but no real theory. Freeman Dyson had said that it would be 100 years before it was understood. But David and I broke through to make a proposal for the fundamental equations that govern the strong force. We also proposed experiments to check the equations,which later proved out. The key was a property of quarks called asymptotic freedom. Its unique among the forces of nature in that it turns off as the particles get close to one another. Conversely,the strength of the force grows with distance. That was seen experimentally,but proved very difficult to reconcile with quantum mechanics and relativity. Well,David and I discovered that it could be reconciled. That theory is now called quantum chromodynamics,or QCD. It would result in new knowledge about the particles that make up the universe,of how matter gets mass. It helped us understand more about the early universe,and it suggested new ideas about the unity of forces in nature.

What did you think once you had finished it?

That it was beautiful. Philosophers from the time of Aristotle on had said that fundamental science was more like everyday experience,where you had rules of thumb,which couldnt be precise because youd run into paradoxes and contradictions. So with QCD,it was,Wow,nature obeys mathematical law.

Now that the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is cranking up for more tries,will you be working there?

No,Id just get in the way. But Ive proposed some fundamental equations,and I hope they will be tested and verified at the LHC. However,QCD will get an enormous workout at LHC because most of what happens there is governed by QCD. Its the theory of the strong interaction,which happens often in the collisions theyll be producing.

What have you been working on since your Nobel?

Ive been thinking about these particles called axions and how they influence cosmology. Im trying to be more serious about putting together what Ive thought about earlierthe idea of supersymmetry and axions,what happens if you combine them. Ive also been working on some exotic electronics. I have taken ideas developed in high-energy physics,about unusual properties particles might have,and tried to find some examples that emerge in materials at low temperatures,where quantum mechanics really comes into its own. There are some ideas in this for possibly helping to make a future quantum computer. Also,Im writing a mystery novel Im calling The Attraction of Darkness. The central thread of it is that there are four physicists,two men and two women,who collaborate and discover what dark matter is. For this,they ought to get the Nobel Prize. But the rules are that at most three people can share it. One of the four dies,supposedly a suicide,but then,maybe not. Im hanging a lot of sex and music and philosophy on it.

Where did the story idea come from?

There are situations like that. There are many cases where some notable discovery has contested origins. There might be five or six people who might be candidates for a given award. That situation has all kinds of possibilities for a mystery. My New Years resolution is to get the book done by my birthday in mid-May.