PROFILE

Profile of Claudio Bunster n life and work, Claudio Bunster on your behalf to Princeton. The food prefers extreme challenges. Bun- there will not be as good as in but ster, a physicist who contemplates you will learn the best mathematics and brain-warping theories of space and physics in the world.’’ Several weeks Itime, returned to his native Chile from later, Bunster received a letter from the United States precisely when most Wheeler himself indicating that he had intellectuals would have stayed clear— requested the Graduate School Office to during the middle of the Pinochet dicta- mail Bunster an application package. torship. Shut out of the universities by Bunster still remembers Wheeler writing the military government, he broke the that he knew of ‘‘the many things [Bun- conventional mold by founding a re- ster] had already learned and the many search institute that he then moved books [he] had already read.’’ But from , the capital, to Wheeler warned that competition to get in southern Chile, against the flow of into the Princeton Ph.D. program was minds and money. He led the presiden- fierce. tial science advisory committee during ‘‘I applied, and waited anxiously for the administration of Eduardo Frei, and the postman every day,’’ Bunster says. ‘‘I served on the Dialogue Board of Hu- even went to the corner to intercept man Rights to reconcile Chilean mili- Claudio Bunster him. And then, one day, the letter ar- tary and civil society. rived.’’ He had been accepted. For his achievements, Bunster was Times were exciting at Princeton. Feynman had done just that and pub- elected to the National Academy of Sci- Wheeler’s group consisted of 8 or 10 lished their results in a 1945 paper in ences in 2005. In his Inaugural Article, students and postdocs, with others ‘‘or- Reviews of Modern Physics (2), he rode which appeared in the July 24, 2007 is- biting around.’’ The eminent professor buses all over Santiago trying desper- sue of PNAS (1), he showed that after a had just coined the name ‘‘black hole’’ ately to find back issues of the journal. black hole swallows a magnetic mono- for the space–time singularity that forms He finally found what he was looking pole, the space–time singularity starts when a star collapses on itself and for in the library of the Institute of Cos- rotating. crams so much mass into so small a mic Rays. ‘‘I read the paper with emo- space that the intense gravity prevents Learning Physics Despite the Hurdles tion,’’ he says. ‘‘There it was, not only light from escaping. done, but done with a style I had not Although astronomers have now During high school in Santiago, Bunster seen before. Deep, elegant physics that taught himself physics. He had to. ‘‘My found many promising candidates, when read as literature. Equations written Bunster was in Wheeler’s lab, black teachers were extremely boring,’’ he with words instead of symbols. Generos- says. At first, he did not know what holes were pure theory. The equations ity in giving credit to the work of predicted them, but no experimental physics was, just that he liked the name. others.’’ There was something magic in the way evidence had been found. ‘‘The black Then the book Geometrodynamics,a hole has come from conjecture to ‘‘fı´sica’’ rolled off the tongue. Then he collection of articles by Wheeler and became intrigued more and more by the maybe being responsible for the struc- colleagues (3), fell into his hands. ‘‘I was ture of the universe,’’ Bunster says. Be- nature of time. When he was 15, he mesmerized,’’ Bunster says. ‘‘Here was a found a book on relativity theory in a ing such extreme objects, black holes contemporary theoretical physicist doing naturally attracted his attention when he bookstore. ‘‘I remember being aston- general relativity as frontier science, ished to think,’’ he says, ‘‘that when I joined Wheeler’s group. Another topic mixing gravity with the rest of physics— that fascinated him was quantum grav- saw a leaf in a tree moving with the daring, magic! I thought I should find a wind, I was observing the past, since it ity, the branch of physics that seeks to way to study under that man.’’ Wheeler, unify quantum mechanics with general had taken some time for the light to one of the most prominent physicists of travel from the leaf to my eye.’’ relativity. ‘‘I was interested in looking at the century, was a professor at Prince- space–time as a derived—as opposed to When he entered the University of ton University, the global epicenter of Chile in Santiago in 1965, he enrolled in fundamental—concept,’’ he says, point- physics, a continent away. It seemed im- ing out that today many contemporary the new and experimental ‘‘Institute of possible that Bunster would ever be able physicists look to string theory to ex- Sciences,’’ an oddity in the system of to approach him. Chilean universities that, even now, he plain the basis for space and time. considers ‘‘little Soviet Unions’’: stolid, Exciting Times ‘‘Space–time is like a layer cake made of pancakes,’’ he says. ‘‘Each pancake is inflexible bureaucracies that never take Just when Bunster thought he would space at a given time. And therefore, in risks. never get to Princeton, he ‘‘had an un- quantum mechanics, Wheeler said there Nevertheless, he pursued on his own believable piece of luck,’’ he explains. In could be no space–time, because there what he calls the problem of classical a footnote to one of Wheeler’s papers, is no precise history of space. He in- electrodynamics: the electron, a charged the theorist acknowledged a French vented something called ‘superspace,’ particle, interacts with its own field. The mathematician named Andre´Avez. which was a big space in which each self-energy stored in this interaction is Bunster knew that Avez happened to be point was a three-dimensional space.’’ In infinite if calculated by standard meth- in Santiago at the time. Through his ods. ‘‘It seemed to me that one should mathematics teacher, he arranged an

eliminate the concept of field alto- introduction. Avez and Bunster had This is a Profile of a recently elected member of the National gether,’’ Bunster says. lunch and spoke for several hours. At Academy of Sciences to accompany the member’s Inaugural When someone told Bunster that the end of their conversation, Bunster Article on page 12243 in issue 30 of volume 104. and Richard recalls Avez saying: ‘‘Well, I will write © 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA

www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0804735105 PNAS ͉ July 8, 2008 ͉ vol. 105 ͉ no. 27 ͉ 9137–9139 Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021 his doctoral dissertation, Bunster moved to Austin in 1980. He was pro- you plan to make a voyage of discovery, showed how what we experience as ductive in Texas for a while, but Chile choose a ship of small draught.’’ space and time would emerge in the began to loom ever larger in his ‘‘Big ships cannot go into shallow wa- classical limit of quantum superspace. thoughts. So he negotiated a deal in ters or narrow passages,’’ Bunster ex- Bunster spent one year after complet- which University of Texas, Austin, al- plains. ‘‘They are not easy to maneuver. ing his doctorate as a postdoc in Wheel- lowed him to spend half the year in The universities are not ships of small er’s group before being promoted to Texas and the other half in Chile. With draft in Chile.’’ assistant professor. There were some seed money from the Tinker Founda- The CECS has three main areas of very bright minds around. Bunster often tion, he founded an independent re- concentration: theoretical physics, mo- discussed ideas with the legendary Free- search institute in Santiago called the lecular physiology, and glaciology and man Dyson. ‘‘I treasure those conversa- Centro de Estudios Cientificos de San- climate change. ‘‘We say we are inter- tions with him,’’ he says. But his most tiago (CECS). ested in the cosmos, the planet and productive collaboration was with a Unfortunately, the University of life,’’ says Bunster. ‘‘You know, it young Italian named Tullio Regge. ‘‘He Texas, Austin, arrangement did not sounds very much like a policy but it had very original ideas, and so at a work out. ‘‘Half a man is less than half a was just a string of coincidences. Instead young age he became a professor’’ at man,’’ Bunster quips. He returned to the of choosing research fields, the focus the Institute for Advanced Study IAS at Princeton, which he knew was was put on finding first-rate people will- (IAS)—a center for theoretical research ing to take risks and open new paths. in Princeton, NJ. At this time, and until The people were primary, not the fields. 2005 (when he discovered the identity of ‘‘I had shown The rest was the magic of life.’’ These his biological father), Claudio Bunster days the CECS is home to 15 leading was known as Claudio Teitelboim. Many independence of researchers, plus postdocs and graduate terms in the field of quantum gravity students for a total staff of 80. Apart bear the Regge–Teitelboim moniker: thought and a from Bunster’s status as director, the the Regge–Teitelboim model, Regge– institute’s governing structure is hori- Teitelboim equations, and so on. willingness to go zontal—all scientists bear the title of ‘‘researcher’’ and have equal standing. Torn Between Two Worlds into battle.’’ Leadership is exerted by achievement Wheeler left Princeton for the Univer- and stature, and not by bureaucratic sity of Texas at Austin in 1977. Soon rank, Bunster says. after, Bunster joined Regge, Dyson, and generous with its flexibility. For several In 2000, Bunster organized the insti- others at the IAS. It was a top-notch years, he shuttled between Princeton tution’s move from Santiago to the forum, he says, ‘‘where one was wel- and Santiago. But as the CECS became southern city of Valdivia. ‘‘This country come to pursue crazy lines of thought.’’ a more concrete entity, he increasingly is very centralized, and the migration of Also, the IAS was very flexible with felt the gravitational pull of Chile, a group of first-rate people from the duties—there were no classes to teach— where, even though banned from teach- capital to the south goes against the and permitted Bunster to travel home ing at the universities, he eventually set- usual stream,’’ he says. ‘‘It was a revolu- regularly so he could lay the ground- tled for good. tionary move, and it worked very well.’’ work for a research institute that he ‘‘It cannot be a coincidence that I did Drawing on his contacts from his time planned to establish there. In Chile the so during the hard times of the Pinochet at Princeton and University of Texas, political situation had imploded. dictatorship,’’ he says. ‘‘Not because I Austin, Bunster has built the CECS into On September 11, 1973, the military was in favor of it. Quite the opposite. I an internationally recognized retreat. overthrew the government of Salvador felt that precisely at that time I could be There is no tenure and no permanent Allende. At first a junta governed Chile, more useful, and this could be best ac- source of money, but the researchers and then Augusto Pinochet ruled alone complished by having an independent often feel exhilarated by their freedom. with a ruthless hand. Chilean expatriates place where colleagues from all over the A sense of solidarity prevails. were aware of the turmoil in their coun- world could visit and bring some light ‘‘Sometimes there is an Antarctic ex- try and Bunster was torn between the into the darkness.’’ ploration and one has to choose be- crisis in his homeland and the intellec- The Pinochet regime would have pre- tween a new transgenic facility or going tual haven of Princeton. ‘‘It was the end ferred darkness. ‘‘Sometimes one could to the south pole,’’ explains Bunster. of an illusion,’’ he says of the coup, feel the presence of a government agent ‘‘So the biologists say, well, go to the ‘‘and with hindsight it’s easy to see that lurking around,’’ Bunster says. But the south pole, we’ll do our lab next year.’’ [the Allende plan] would not have CECS was tolerated, perhaps because of Money does remain an issue, though. worked, but there was an illusion of its lack of a conventional political ‘‘The Center is fully equipped,’’ Bunster change, and then all that collapsed and agenda. ‘‘There were phone threats, but says, ‘‘but we had a budget for six years there was all this brutality. The sense of for those times that was peanuts,’’ says that burned in three because we did the impotence, being away and not being Bunster. work planned for six and more. We able to do anything about it, was very think that life is too short. So I am at strong.’’ Building a Ship of Small Draft the moment trying to keep the boat During this time, Wheeler had not Bunster used the IAS—an example of a moving.’’ forgotten about his former student. In- center of excellence where international deed, he tried very hard to persuade visitors would be welcome—as inspira- Public Service and Science Bunster to join his group at Austin. A tion for building the CECS. But beyond Once Bunster returned to Chile, he magazine called The Texas Monthly be- the ideals of excellence and openness, could not help but become enmeshed in gan to appear regularly in Bunster’s the CECS, which was set up in a rented public service. After a plebiscite denied mailbox on Wheatsheaf Lane in Prince- house in the Santiago suburbs, was not a Pinochet a further role in the Chilean ton. The chance to rejoin Wheeler was heavily planned venture. Its motto is a government in 1988, Patricio Aylwin was an offer Bunster couldn’t refuse, and he quote from Captain James Cook: ‘‘If elected the new president and served

9138 ͉ www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0804735105 Mossman Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021 until 1994 in a period during which talk to the military, rather than keeping ered what would happen when two ex- Chile made the transition from military them isolated.’’ Bunster was nominated treme objects are brought together: a to civilian rule. Then, when Eduardo to the Board and thought hard about black hole and a magnetic monopole. Frei came to power in 1994, he named how science might help reconcile the Magnetic monopoles (particles at which Bunster as his science advisor and head military to the people. One avenue that magnetic field lines would originate, or of the presidential advisory committee seemed promising was glaciology. The end, as electric field lines do at elec- for scientific matters. Bunster believes military possessed the logistics and trons and protons) have not yet been Frei chose him because ‘‘I had shown transport to enable research in harsh observed in experiments, but they keep independence of thought and a willing- territory. turning up in calculations. ‘‘Black holes ness to go into battle.’’ This was an op- ‘‘When the Dialogue Board was estab- are known because they hide things,’’ portunity to revamp national science lished,’’ he remembers, ‘‘I was one of Bunster says. ‘‘So it’s quite natural to support, and Bunster took the initiative, the few people who had not been on the think that maybe the magnetic poles are developing the Presidential Chairs on side of the Pinochet government, and hiding inside black holes.’’ Science: prestigious, well funded re- yet had a relationship of mutual trust One reason why Bunster might think search positions. A committee of distin- and respect with the military that had so is that research has shown that black holes, such as the candidate Sagittarius guished foreign scientists (to bypass es- grown from working in the field, shoul- A* at the center of the Milky Way, ro- tablished local power groups) chose the der to shoulder with them, taking risks tate. Indeed, the radiation emitted from honorees, who received their awards together and getting to know each other matter falling into black hole candidates from the Chilean president himself in a through long conversations inside a tent shows that they are rotating. However, ceremony at the presidential palace. ‘‘It with the wind and the snow howling ‘‘it’s not clear where the rotation comes was also novel,’’ Bunster says, ‘‘that outside.’’ At one meeting Bunster recalls from,’’ says Bunster. He thinks it might there were very few strings attached. that the Board debated for days behind be caused by monopoles. ‘‘And so we The money was not minor by Chilean closed doors, ‘‘wondering whether to dig played this game and we let the mono- standards’’—$100,000 US a year for into the brutalities of the past, or, with- pole fall radially into a non-rotating three years. out ignoring those, to focus on showing black hole,’’ he says. One might think Bunster was able to further expand a road to the future.’’ Pressing for the that the black hole would just swallow this support. During one of his regular committee to reach a decision, Bunster the monopole. But the result of Bun- stays at the IAS, he had a conversation told them that ‘‘in quantum mechanics, ster’s and Henneaux’s calculations was with Phillip Griffiths, then IAS director, a photon has no reality or meaning until that the black hole began to rotate. about taking the Presidential Chairs to a it is emitted by an atom.’’ Thereupon a Exactly how to show that black holes higher level by giving support to groups general stood up in agreement. His really do contain magnetic monopoles is rather than individuals. Griffiths, who branch of the armed forces adhered to a different challenge, but one that work was interested in fostering science in the quantum theory, he said. ‘‘That was such as Bunster’s may eventually set up developing countries, had the support of very important, because he was ‘on the for astronomers to conquer. Black holes, James Wolfensohn, then president of other side,’ ’’ Bunster says. The Dia- quantum superspace, Chilean geogra- the World Bank. With a World Bank logue Board was thereby able to send a phy, the fight against oppressive dicta- loan, Bunster was able to kick-start the message to the Chilean people that the torship: all his life, Claudio Bunster has Millennium Science Initiative (MSI), barrier had been broken between the sought out the extreme, taken its mea- which makes grants to centers of excel- military and society. Bunster has since sure, and solved it with innovation and lence in Chile, currently on the order of overseen collaborations between the enterprise. $2 million US per year for 10 years. The Chilean military and CECS researchers Postscript. On May 12, 2008, Bunster spoke CECS has received MSI funding since conducting research on climate change at John Archibald Wheeler’s memorial 2000. Following the Chilean prototype, in Antarctica and on the Patagonian ice service in Princeton, NJ. Wheeler, Bun- the MSI has been extended to several fields. ster said, often quoted Teddy Roosevelt’s other countries. exhortation ‘‘Do what you can, where you At the end of his administration, Frei The Confluence of Extremes are, with what you have.’’ established the Dialogue Board on Hu- Through all his forays into public ser- ‘‘I followed his advice,’’ said Bunster. man Rights to break the barrier be- vice and his work to create and adminis- ‘‘At latitude 40S there is a science institute tween the military and civil society. ter the CECS, Bunster has continued his where one can find the footprints of Wheeler in every corner.’’ ‘‘Democracy was weak,’’ Bunster says, research. In his Inaugural Article (1), he ‘‘and I strongly believed that one should and colleague Marc Henneaux consid- Kaspar Mossman, Science Writer

1. Bunster C, Henneaux M (2007) A monopole near a black 2. Wheeler JA, Feynman RP (1945) Interaction with the 3. Wheeler JA (1962) Geometrodynamics (Academic hole. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:12243–12249. absorber as the mechanism of radiation. Rev Mod Phys Press, New York). 17:157–181.

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