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Caltech
Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics

Welcome

Welcome to the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics. True to the groundbreaking discoveries that have marked theoretical physics at Caltech, the Burke Institute will strengthen Caltech's leading role in humanity's quest to discover fundamental laws of nature and to explain natural phenomena at all scales—from subatomic, atomic, and molecular scales to the scales of celestial objects and the universe itself. Read more

Awards and Honors

All News
October 9, 2025
New Directors Appointed to Burke Institute and Leinweber Forum
July 21, 2025
New PMA Chair Announced
August 20, 2024
Preskill awarded Bell Prize
August 1, 2024
Kitaev Wins Henri Poincaré Prize
April 25, 2023
Ooguri receives Guggenheim Fellowship
April 25, 2023
Simmons-Duffin receives New Horizons Prize

Seminars

All Events
December 11, 2025 2:00 pm

Special TAPIR Seminar

Online and In-Person Event
Decoding the sub-parsec scale environment of LISA Massive Black Hole Binaries
Mudit Garg, Postdoctoral Fellow, Astrophysics, New York University,
December 12, 2025 12:00 pm

IQIM Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Seminar

East Bridge 114
Nishad Maskara, MIT,
December 12, 2025 2:00 pm

TAPIR Seminar

Online and In-Person Event
Metastable helium in the upper thermosphere
Shri Kulkarni, Professor, Astronomy and Planetary Science, Caltech,
Hirosi Ooguri headshot
  • Faculty Interview

Hirosi Ooguri

Science Communication: A Conversation with Hirosi Ooguri

Read More About Hirosi Ooguri
Xie Chen
  • Faculty Interview

Xie Chen

Quantum Information Meets Condensed Matter: Inside the Mind of Xie Chen

Read More About Xie Chen
Barry Simon
  • Faculty Interview

Barry Simon

Lifetime of Numbers: Q&A with Barry Simon

Read More About Barry Simon
Jason Alicea
  • Faculty Interview

Jason Alicea

From Theory to Reality: An Interview with Jason Alicea

Read More About Jason Alicea
Kathryn Zurek
  • Faculty Interview

Kathryn Zurek

Shining New Light on Dark Matter

Read More About Kathryn Zurek
Cliff Cheung
  • Faculty Interview

Cliff Cheung

The Miracle and Beauty of Physics: An Interview with Cliff Cheung

Read More About Cliff Cheung
Philip Hopkins
  • Faculty Interview

Philip Hopkins

Interactions in Space: An Interview with Philip Hopkins

Read More About Philip Hopkins
Fernando Brandão
  • Faculty Interview

Fernando Brandão

The Power of Entanglement: A Conversation with Fernando Brandão

Read More About Fernando Brandão

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