Cohl Furey, also known as Nichol Furey,[1] is a Canadian mathematical physicist.[2][3]

Cohl Furey
Born
Nichol Furey

Canada
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Physicist, mathematician
Known forApplication of octonions to the Standard Model
Academic background
Education
Alma materUniversity of Waterloo (2015, Ph.D.)
ThesisStandard model physics from an algebra? (2015)
Doctoral advisorAchim Kempf
Academic work
DisciplineMathematical physics
Main interestsParticle physics, division algebras, Clifford algebras, Jordan algebras, octonions
Websitewww.furey.space

Career

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Furey has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from Simon Fraser University (2005), Master's degree from the University of Cambridge (2006) and a Ph.D in theoretical physics from the University of Waterloo (2015).[4] She was a research fellow at the University of Cambridge's Trinity Hall from 2016 to 2019[5] and spent a few months at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town. Since 2020, she has been at the Humboldt University of Berlin on a Freigeist Fellowship by the Volkswagen Foundation.[1][6]

Her main interests are division algebras, Clifford algebras, and Jordan algebras, and their relation to particle physics. Her work focuses on finding an underlying mathematical structure to the Standard Model of particle physics. She is most noted for her work on octonions.[7][8][9]

She has worked on attempting to obtain the Standard Model of particle physics from octonionic constructions.[2][7][9] In her 2018 paper "SU(3)C × SU(2)L × U(1)YU(1)X) as a symmetry of division algebraic ladder operators,"[10] according to Quanta Magazine, "she consolidated several findings to construct the full Standard Model symmetry group, SU(3) × SU(2) × U(1), for a single generation of particles, with the math producing the correct array of electric charges and other attributes for an electron, neutrino, three up quarks, three down quarks and their anti-particles. The math also suggests a reason why electric charge is quantized in discrete units — essentially, because whole numbers are."[2] In 2022 together with Mia Hughes, she linked the symmetry breaking in physics to division algebras including octonions.[11]

Media recognition

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In 2019, Wired.com listed her in their article "10 Women in Science and Tech Who Should Be Household Names".[12]

Notable publications

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  • Furey, Nichol; Hughes, Mia J. (2022-08-10). "Division algebraic symmetry breaking". Physics Letters B. 831: 137186. arXiv:2210.10126. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2022.137186. ISSN 0370-2693.
  • C. Furey, "Three generations, two unbroken gauge symmetries, and one eight-dimensional algebra", Phys. Lett. B, 785 (2018) p. 84-89 (See addendum, arXiv version
  • C. Furey, "SU(3)C × SU(2)L × U(1)YU(1)X) as a symmetry of division algebraic ladder operators", Eur. Phys. J. C, 78 5 (2018) 375
  • C. Furey, "A demonstration that electroweak theory could violate parity automatically (leptonic case)", Int. J. Mod. Phys. A, (2018)
  • C. Furey, "Standard model physics from an algebra?", PhD thesis, University of Waterloo, [arXiv:1611.09182]
  • C. Furey, "Charge quantization from a number operator", Phys. Lett. B, 742 (2015), pp. 195–199
  • C. Furey, "Generations: Three prints, in colour", JHEP 10 (2014) 046 [arXiv:1405.4601 hep-th]
  • C. Furey, "Towards a unified theory of ideals", Phys. Rev. D 86 (2012) 025024, [arXiv:1002.1497 hep-th]
  • Furey, DeBenedictis, "Wormhole throats in Rm gravity", Class. Quantum Grav. 22 (2005) 313–322, [arXiv:gr-qc/0410088]

References

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  1. ^ a b Deffke, Uta. "The octave magician: Nichol (Cohl) Furey is a researcher at IRIS Adlershof". adlershof.de. Berlin: Adlershof Journal.
  2. ^ a b c Wolchover, Natalie (July 20, 2018). "The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature". Archived from the original on 21 March 2022.
  3. ^ Wolchover, Natalie (December 21, 2018). "The Year in Physics". Archived from the original on 24 April 2022.
  4. ^ "N. Furey - CV" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  5. ^ "Women in STEM: Dr Cohl Furey; University of Cambridge". April 24, 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Project description: In-depth study into the algebraic structure of elementary particle physics". VolkswagenStiftung. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  7. ^ a b Furey, Cohl (2012-07-20). "Unified theory of ideals". Physical Review D. 86 (2): 025024. arXiv:1002.1497. Bibcode:2012PhRvD..86b5024F. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.86.025024. S2CID 118458623.
  8. ^ Furey, C. J. (2014-10-07). "Generations: three prints, in colour". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2014 (10): 46. arXiv:1405.4601. Bibcode:2014JHEP...10..046F. doi:10.1007/JHEP10(2014)046. S2CID 13813401.
  9. ^ a b Furey, Cohl (2018-10-10). "Three generations, two unbroken gauge symmetries, and one eight-dimensional algebra". Physics Letters B. 785: 84–89. arXiv:1910.08395. Bibcode:2018PhLB..785...84F. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2018.08.032. S2CID 126205768.
  10. ^ Furey, Cohl (2018-05-12). "SU(3)C × SU(2)L × U(1)YU(1)X) as a symmetry of division algebraic ladder operators". European Physical Journal C. 78: 375. arXiv:1806.00612. doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-5844-7.
  11. ^ Brooks, Michael (August 2022). "Octonions: The strange maths that could unite the laws of nature (=Reality's hidden depths)". New Scientist. 255 (3400): 38–41. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(22)01494-4.
  12. ^ Dreyfuss, Emily (March 8, 2019). "10 Women in Science and Tech Who Should Be Household Names; WIRED". Archived from the original on 8 March 2022.
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