Janna Levin
Professor of Physics and Astronomy
Department
Physics & Astronomy
Office
Office Hours ALT 514
Tuesday & Thursday 12:00-1:30pm
Altschul 505
Contact
212-854-2263
jlevin@barnard.edu
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Janna Levin joined the Barnard faculty in January 2004. Professor Levin's research focuses on theories of the early universe, chaos, and black holes. She is also interested in the topology of the universe and the question of whether or not the universe is infinite. Other research topics include the cosmology of extra dimensions and string cosmology.
Professor Levin has conducted research at the Center for Particle Astrophysics (CfPA) at University of California, Berkeley, as well as the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics, Cambridge University, U.K.
While in England, she also had an appointment as the first scientist-in-residence at the Ruskin School of Fine Art and Drawing at Oxford, supported by an award from the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and Arts (NESTA).
Professor Levin writes and publishes for both scientific and general audiences. Her novel,?A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, won the PEN/Bingham Fellowship for Writers, an award which "honors an exceptionally talented fiction writer whose debut work ... represents distinguished literary achievement..." and the Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work. It was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award for "a distinguished book of first fiction."
She is also the author of a popular science book,?How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space.
B.A., Barnard College
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Theoretical physics
History of physics
“Dynamics of Black Hole Pairs I: Periodic Tables,” gr-qc/0809.3838, with R. Grossman (accepted for publication,Physical Review D, in press).
“Dynamics of Black Hole Pairs II: Spherical Orbits and the Homoclinic Limit of Zoom-Whirliness,” gr-qc/0811.3798, with R. Grossman (accepted for publication,Physical Review D, in press).
“A Periodic Table for Black Hole Orbits,” with G. Perez-Giz,Physical ReviewD77, 103005 (2008); gr-qc/0802.0459.
"Dark Energy and Stabilization of Extra Dimensions" (with B. Greene),J. High Energy Phys.11 (2007)
"Cosmological Moduli Dynamics" (with B. Greene, et al.),J. High EnergyPhys.07 (2007)
A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines(Knopf, 2006)
"Chaos and Order in Models of Black Hole Pairs,"Phys. Rev. D74 (2006)
"Lorentz-boosted Circles-in-the-sky,"Phys. Rev. D70 (2004)
How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space(Anchor, 2003)
"Lyapunov Timescales and Black Hole Binaries" (with N.J. Cornish),Classical and Quantum Gravity20 (2003)
"The Fate of Chaotic Binaries,"Phys. Rev. D67 (2003)
"Comment on 'Ruling out chaos in compact binary systems' " (with N. J. Cornish),Phys. Rev. Lett.89 (2002)
"Topology and the Cosmic Microwave Background,"Phys. Rept.365 (2002)
"The Twin Paradox in Compact Spaces" (with J. D. Barrow),Phys. Rev. A63 (2001)
"Gravity Waves, Chaos, and Spinning Compact Binaries,"Phys. Rev. Lett.84 (2000)
"Gravity Waves from Relativistic Binaries" (with R. O'Reilly and E. J. Copeland),Phys. Rev. D62 (2000)
"Fractals and Scars on the Compact Octagon" (with J. D. Barrow),Class. Quantum Grav.17 L1 (2000)
In The News
Physics Major Daniela Hikari Yano ’23
The Barnard junior explores infinity and beyond at a major scientific conference.?#CelebrateAAPIHeritageMonth
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May 6, 2022
Prof. Janna Levin Contemplates a New Origin for Black Holes
September 2, 2020
Associated Press
Prof. Janna Levin speaks at TED conference
Physics and Astronomy Prof. Janna Levin spoke about the "soundtrack" of the universe at TED 2011 conference in Long Beach, Calif.
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February 27, 2011