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{{short description|American physicist and writer (born 1940)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Kip Thorne
| image             = Kip Thorne in 2022.jpg
| caption           = Thorne in 2022
| birth_name        = Kip Stephen Thorne
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1940|6|1}}
| birth_place       = [[Logan, Utah]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| education         = [[California Institute of Technology]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br />[[Princeton University]] ([[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Linda Jean Peterson|1960|1977|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Carolee Joyce Winstein|1984}}
}}
| children          = 2
| known_for         = ''[[Gravitation (book)|Gravitation]]'' (1973)<br/>[[Gravitational-wave astronomy]]<br/>[[Hartle–Thorne metric]]<br />[[Hoop conjecture]]<br/>''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'' (2014)<br/>[[LIGO]]<br/>[[Membrane paradigm]]<br/>[[Roman ring|Roman arch]]<br />[[Thorne–Hawking–Preskill bet]]<br/>[[Thorne–Żytkow object|Thorne-Żytkow object]]
| awards            = [[Lilienfeld Prize]] (1996)<br />[[Albert Einstein Medal]] (2009)<ref>{{Cite web |title=einstein medal |url=http://www.einstein-bern.ch/index.php?lang=en&show=medaille |publisher=Einstein-bern.ch |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref><br />[[Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics|Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics]] (2016)<br />[[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]] (2016)<br />[[Shaw Prize]] (2016)<br />[[Kavli Prize]] (2016)<br />[[Harvey Prize]] (2016)<br />[[Princess of Asturias Award]] (2017)<br />[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2017)<br />[[Lewis Thomas Prize]] (2018)
| field             = [[Astrophysics]]<br />[[Gravitational physics]]
| workplaces        = [[California Institute of Technology]]<br>[[Cornell University]]
| thesis_title      = Geometrodynamics of cylindrical systems
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302136891/
| thesis_year       = 1965
| doctoral_advisor  = [[John Archibald Wheeler]]
| doctoral_students = [[William L. Burke]]<ref name="Gene">{{Cite web |title=Kip Stephen Thorne |url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=63787 |website=Mathematics Genealogy Project |publisher=North Dakota State University |access-date=September 6, 2016}}</ref><br>[[Carlton M. Caves]]<br>[[Lee Samuel Finn]]<br>[[Sándor J. Kovács]]<br>[[David L. Lee]]<br>[[Alan Lightman]]<br>[[Don Page (physicist)|Don N. Page]]<br>[[William H. Press]]<br>[[Richard H. Price]]<br>[[Bernard F. Schutz]]<br>[[Sherry Suyu]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://astrogen.aas.org/front/searchdetails.php?agnumber=31340|title=Kip Stephen Thorne|work=AstroGen|publisher=American Astronomical Society|access-date=2024-10-01}}</ref><br>[[Saul Teukolsky]]<br>[[Clifford Martin Will]]
}}

'''Kip Stephen Thorne''' (born June&nbsp;1, 1940) is an American [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]] and [[writer]] known for his contributions in [[gravitation|gravitational physics]] and [[astrophysics]]. Along with [[Rainer Weiss]] and [[Barry C. Barish]], he was awarded the 2017 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for his contributions to the [[LIGO]] detector and the observation of [[gravitational wave]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 3, 2017 |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 2017 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2017/press.html |access-date=October 3, 2017 |publisher=The Nobel Foundation}}</ref><ref name="BBC-20171003">{{Cite news |last1=Rincon |first1=Paul |last2=Amos |first2=Jonathan |date=October 3, 2017 |title=Einstein's waves win Nobel Prize |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41476648 |access-date=October 3, 2017 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20171003">{{Cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |author-link=Dennis Overbye |date=October 3, 2017 |title=2017 Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded to LIGO Black Hole Researchers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/science/nobel-prize-physics.html |access-date=October 3, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20171003dk">{{Cite news |last=Kaiser |first=David |author-link=David Kaiser (physicist) |date=October 3, 2017 |title=Learning from Gravitational Waves |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/gravitational-waves-ligo-funding.html |access-date=October 3, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

A longtime friend and colleague of [[Stephen Hawking]] and [[Carl Sagan]], he was the [[Richard Feynman|Richard P. Feynman]] Professor of Theoretical Physics at the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) until 2009<ref name="its.caltech.edu">{{Cite web |title=Kip S. Thorne: Biographical Sketch |url=http://www.its.caltech.edu/~kip/scripts/biosketch.html |website=www.its.caltech.edu |access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> and speaks of the astrophysical implications of [[General relativity|the general theory of relativity]]. He continues to do scientific research and scientific consulting, a notable example of which was for the [[Christopher Nolan]] film ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' Trailer: Watch Now |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1719107/interstellar-trailer-christopher-nolan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123142644/http://www.mtv.com/news/1719107/interstellar-trailer-christopher-nolan/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 23, 2014 |last=Kevin P. Sullivan |date=December 16, 2013 |publisher=[[MTV]] |access-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch Exclusive: The Science of Interstellar - WIRED - WIRED Video - CNE |url=http://video.wired.com/watch/exclusive-the-science-of-interstellar-wired |website=WIRED Videos |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205073511/http://video.wired.com/watch/exclusive-the-science-of-interstellar-wired |archive-date=December 5, 2014 |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref>

==Life and career==
[[File:École de Physique des Houches (Les Houches Physics School) main lecture hall 1972.jpg|thumb|upright=1.09|Discussion in the main lecture hall at the [[École de Physique des Houches]] (Les Houches Physics School), 1972. From left, [[Yuval Ne'eman]], [[Bryce DeWitt]], Thorne, [[Demetrios Christodoulou]].]]
Thorne was born on June 1, 1940, in [[Logan, Utah]]. His father, D. Wynne Thorne (1908–1979), was a professor of [[soil chemistry]] at [[Utah State University]], and his mother, Alison (née Comish; 1914–2004), was an economist and the first woman to receive a [[PhD]] in economics from [[Iowa State University|Iowa State College]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kip S. Thorne Biography |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/thorne/biographical/ |website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Plaza of Heroines at Iowa State University |url=http://www.las.iastate.edu/archive/plaza/one_name.php?id=1145 |last=Grant Kimm, Webmaster- The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University |publisher=Las.iastate.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814205320/http://www.las.iastate.edu/archive/plaza/one_name.php?id=1145 |archive-date=August 14, 2015 |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref> Raised in an academic environment, two of his four siblings also became professors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=D. Wynne Thorne Papers, 1936-1983 |url=http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv16235 |last=Jones |first=Zachary |date=2011 |website=Archives West |publisher=Orbis Cascade Alliance}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Alison Comish Thorne |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?pid=2750617 |date=October 26, 2004 |website=Legacy.com |publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune Obituaries |access-date=September 7, 2016}}</ref> Thorne's parents were members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) and raised Thorne in the LDS faith, though he now describes himself as [[atheist]]. Shortly before his mother's death, she urged Kip and his siblings to leave the LDS Church because of its discrimination against women, which they all did. Regarding his views on science and religion, Thorne has stated: "There are large numbers of my finest colleagues who are quite devout and believe in God .... There is no fundamental incompatibility between science and religion. I happen to not believe in God."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kip Thorne: physicist studying time travel tapped for Hollywood film |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/jun/21/kip-thorne-time-travel-scientist-film |last=Rory Carroll |date=June 21, 2013 |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |access-date=October 30, 2014 |quote=Thorne grew up in an academic, Mormon family in Utah but is now an atheist. "There are large numbers of my finest colleagues who are quite devout and believe in God, ranging from an abstract humanist God to a very concrete Catholic or Mormon God. There is no fundamental incompatibility between science and religion. I happen to not believe in God."}}</ref><ref>[https://www.kavliprize.org/kip-thorne-autobiography Kip S. Thorne life story]</ref>

Thorne rapidly excelled at academics early in life, winning recognition in the [[Regeneron Science Talent Search|Westinghouse Science Talent Search]] as a senior at [[Logan High School (Utah)|Logan High School]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Piper |first=Matthew |date=October 3, 2017 |title=Utah-born Kip Thorne wins the Nobel Prize in physics for his role in detecting gravitational waves |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2017/10/03/utah-born-kip-thorne-wins-the-nobel-prize-for-physics-for-his-role-in-detecting-gravitational-waves/}}</ref> He received his [[Bachelor of Science|BS]] in physics degree from the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech) in 1962, and his master and PhD in physics from [[Princeton University]] in 1964 and 1965 under the supervision of [[John Archibald Wheeler]] with a [[doctoral dissertation]] entitled "[[Geometrodynamics]] of Cylindrical Systems".<ref name="thesis-thorne-1965">{{Cite thesis |last=Thorne |first=Kip Stephen |title=Geometrodynamics of cylindrical systems |date=1965 |publisher=[[Princeton University]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302136891/ |url-access=subscription |oclc=760240072 |type=PhD |via=[[ProQuest]]}}</ref>

Thorne returned to Caltech as an associate professor in 1967 and became a professor of theoretical physics in 1970, becoming one of the youngest full professors in the history of Caltech at age 30. He became the William R. Kenan,&nbsp;Jr. Professor in 1981, and the [[Richard Feynman|Feynman]] Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1991. He was an adjunct professor at the [[University of Utah]] from 1971 to 1998 and Andrew D. White Professor at Large at [[Cornell University]] from 1986 to 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kip S. Thorne |url=https://history.aip.org/phn/11605009.html |website=history.aip.org}}</ref> In June 2009, he resigned his Feynman Professorship (he is now the Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus) to pursue a career of writing and movie making.{{Citation needed|reason=|date=October 2017}} His first film project was ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'', on which he worked with [[Christopher Nolan]] and [[Jonathan Nolan]].<ref name="its.caltech.edu" />

Throughout the years, Thorne has served as a mentor and thesis advisor to many leading theorists who now work on observational, experimental, or astrophysical aspects of general relativity. Approximately 50 physicists have received PhDs at Caltech under Thorne's personal mentorship.<ref name="its.caltech.edu" />

Thorne is known for his ability to convey the excitement and significance of discoveries in gravitation and astrophysics to both professional and lay audiences. His presentations on subjects such as [[black hole]]s, [[gravitational radiation]], [[theory of relativity|relativity]], [[time travel]], and [[wormhole]]s have been included in [[PBS]] shows in the U.S. and on the [[BBC]] in the United Kingdom.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

In the 2023 book ''The Warped Side of Our Universe'', Thorne use poetry, and illustrations by [[Lia Halloran]], to explain scientific concepts for the reader.<ref>[https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/11/nobel-winning-physicist-kip-thorne-artist-lia-halloran-illustrate-universes-warped-side/ Nobel-winning physicist, artist illustrate universe’s ‘warped side’]</ref>

Thorne and Linda Jean Peterson married in 1960. Their children are Kares Anne and Bret Carter, an architect. Thorne and Peterson divorced in 1977. Thorne was set up on a [[blind date]] with [[Lynda Obst]], later a [[film producer]], by physicist [[Carl Sagan]]. They dated in 1979-1980, and parted and remained friends, to the extent that they later collaborated on ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]''.<ref name=StarTalk>[https://www.youtube.com/4f9V-8BHONo StarTalk - Black Hole Time Travel - Discussing the science of Interstallar with the Science Advisor, Kip Thorne], [[Neil deGrasse Tyson]]'s ''[[StarTalk (podcast)|StarTalk]]'', 2024-12-03</ref> Thorne and his second wife, Carolee Joyce Winstein, a professor of [[kinesiology|biokinesiology]] and physical therapy at [[University of Southern California|USC]], married in 1984.<ref name="Thorne_CV">{{Cite web |title=Kip S. Thorne: Curriculum Vitae |url=https://www.its.caltech.edu/~kip/scripts/cv.html |last=Kondrashov |first=Veronica |website=Kip S. Thorn |publisher=California Institute of Technology}}</ref>

==Research==
[[File:Kip S. Thorne, 1972.jpg|thumb|Thorne in 1972]]
Thorne's research has principally focused on [[General relativity|relativistic]] [[Astrophysics#Theoretical astrophysics|astrophysics]] and [[Gravitation|gravitation physics]], with emphasis on [[relativistic star]]s, black holes and especially [[gravitational waves]].<ref name="its.caltech.edu" /> He is perhaps best known to the public for his controversial theory that wormholes can conceivably be used for time travel.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cofield |first=Cala |date=December 19, 2014 |title=Time Travel and Wormholes:Physicist Kip Thorne's Wildest Theories |work=Space.com |url=http://www.space.com/28000-physicist-kip-thorne-wildest-theories.html}}</ref> However, Thorne's scientific contributions, which center on the general nature of [[space]], time, and [[gravity]], span the full range of topics in general relativity.

===Gravitational waves and LIGO===
Thorne's work has dealt with the prediction of gravitational wave strengths and their temporal signatures as observed on Earth. These "signatures" are of great relevance to [[LIGO]] (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory), a multi-institution gravitational wave experiment for which Thorne has been a leading proponent – in 1984, he cofounded the LIGO Project (the largest project ever funded by the [[National Science Foundation|NSF]]<ref name="NSFcost">{{Cite web |title=LIGO: The Search for Gravitational Waves |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103042 |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=September 9, 2016 |quote=LIGO is the largest single enterprise undertaken by NSF, with capital investments of nearly $300 million and operating costs of more than $30 million/year. |archive-date=September 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915004424/https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=103042 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) to discern and measure any fluctuations between two or more 'static' points; such fluctuations would be evidence of gravitational waves, as calculations describe. A significant aspect of his research is developing the [[mathematics]] necessary to analyze these objects.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Catching waves with Kip Thorne |url=https://plus.maths.org/content/catching-waves-kip-thorne |date=December 1, 2001 |website=plus.maths.org |language=en |access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref> Thorne also carries out [[engineering]] design analyses for features of the LIGO that cannot be developed on the basis of [[experiment]] and he gives advice on [[data analysis]] [[algorithm]]s by which the waves will be sought. He has provided theoretical support for LIGO, including identifying gravitational wave sources that LIGO should target, designing the baffles to control [[scattering|scattered light]] in the LIGO beam tubes, and – in collaboration with [[Vladimir Braginsky]]'s (Moscow, Russia) research group – inventing [[Quantum Nondemolition measurement|quantum nondemolition]] designs for advanced gravity-wave detectors and ways to reduce the most serious kind of [[noise]] in advanced detectors: [[Johnson–Nyquist noise|thermoelastic noise]]. With [[Carlton M. Caves]], Thorne invented the back-action-evasion approach to quantum nondemolition measurements of the [[harmonic oscillator]]s – a technique applicable both in gravitational wave detection and [[quantum optics]].<ref name="its.caltech.edu" />

On February 11, 2016, a team of four physicists{{efn|The announcement team were Thorne, [[David Reitze]], [[Gabriela González]], [[Rainer Weiss]], and [[France A. Córdova]].}} representing the [[LIGO Scientific Collaboration]], announced that in September 2015, LIGO recorded the signature of two black holes colliding 1.3 billion light-years away.  This recorded detection was the first direct observation of the [[First observation of gravitational waves|fleeting chirp of a gravitational wave]] and confirmed a prediction of the general theory of relativity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gravitational Waves Detected 100 Years After Einstein's Prediction |url=https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211 |date=February 11, 2016 |publisher=ligo.caltech.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Twilley |first=Nicola |title=Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them |magazine=The New Yorker |url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/gravitational-waves-exist-heres-how-scientists-finally-found-them |access-date=February 11, 2016 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref name="PRL-20160211">{{Cite journal |last=Abbott, B.P. |display-authors=etal |year=2016 |title=Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger |journal=[[Phys. Rev. Lett.]] |volume=116 |issue=6 |pages=061102 |arxiv=1602.03837 |bibcode=2016PhRvL.116f1102A |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |pmid=26918975|s2cid=124959784 }}</ref><ref name="Naeye">{{Cite news |last=Naeye |first=Robert |date=February 11, 2016 |title=Gravitational Wave Detection Heralds New Era of Science |work=Sky and Telescope |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/gravitational-wave-detection-heralds-new-era-of-science-0211201644/ |access-date=February 11, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Nature_11Feb16">{{Cite journal |last1=Castelvecchi |first1=Davide |last2=Witze |first2=Alexandra |date=February 11, 2016 |title=Einstein's gravitational waves found at last |url=http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 |journal=Nature News |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.19361 |s2cid=182916902 |access-date=February 11, 2016}}</ref>

===Black hole cosmology===
{{main|Hoop conjecture}}
[[File:Cylindrical Bundle of Magnetic Field Lines.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|A cylindrical bundle of magnetic field lines]]
While studying for his PhD at Princeton University, his mentor [[John Archibald Wheeler|John Wheeler]] assigned him a problem to think about: find out whether or not a cylindrical bundle of repulsive magnetic field lines will implode under its own attractive gravitational force. After several months wrestling with the problem, he proved that it was impossible for cylindrical [[magnetic field]] lines to [[Implosion (mechanical process)|implode]].<ref name="Thorne1994" />{{rp|262–265}}

Why won't a cylindrical bundle of magnetic field lines implode, while spherical stars ''will'' implode under their own gravitational force? Thorne tried to explore the theoretical ridge between these two phenomena. He eventually determined that the gravitational force can overcome all interior pressure only when an object has been compressed in all directions. To express this realization, Thorne proposed his [[hoop conjecture]], which describes an imploding star turning into a black hole when the critical circumference of the designed hoop can be placed around it and set into rotation. That is, any object of mass M around which a hoop of circumference <math>\begin{matrix} \frac{4 \pi GM}{c^2} \end{matrix}</math> can be spun must be a black hole.<ref name="Thorne1994">{{Cite book |last=Kip S. Thorne |url=https://archive.org/details/blackholestimewa0000thor |title=Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-393-31276-8 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|266–267}}<ref name="FrolovNovikov2012">{{Cite book |last1=V. Frolov |title=Black Hole Physics: Basic Concepts and New Developments |last2=I. Novikov |date=December 6, 2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-011-5139-9}}</ref>{{rp|189–190}}

As a tool to be used in both enterprises — astrophysics and theoretical physics — Thorne and his students have developed an unusual approach, called the "[[membrane paradigm]]", to the theory of black holes and used it to clarify the [[Blandford–Znajek mechanism]] by which black holes may power some [[quasar]]s and [[active galactic nuclei]].<ref name="Thorne1994" />{{rp|405–411}}

Thorne has investigated the [[quantum]] [[statistical mechanics|statistical mechanical]] origin of the [[entropy]] of a black hole. With his [[Postdoctoral researcher|postdoc]] Wojciech Zurek, he showed that the entropy of a black hole is the [[logarithm]] of the number of ways that the hole could have been made.<ref name="Thorne1994" />{{rp|445–446}}

With [[Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov|Igor Novikov]] and [[Don Page (physicist)|Don Page]], he developed the general relativistic theory of thin [[accretion disk]]s around black holes, and using this theory he deduced that with a doubling of its mass by such [[Accretion (astrophysics)|accretion]] a black hole will be spun up to 0.998 of the maximum [[Spin (physics)|spin]] allowed by general relativity, but not any farther. This is probably the maximum black-hole spin allowed in nature.<ref name="its.caltech.edu" />

===Wormholes and time travel===
[[File:Wormhole-demo.png|thumb|upright=0.9|A wormhole is a short cut connecting two separate regions in space.  In the figure the green line shows the short way through wormhole, and the red line shows the long way through normal space.]]
Thorne and his co-workers at Caltech conducted scientific research on whether the laws of physics permit space and time to be [[Simply connected space|multiply connected]] (can there exist classical, [[Wormhole#Traversable wormholes|traversable wormholes]] and "time machines"?).<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0206-14sp|pmid=12197102 |title=How to Build a Time Machine |date=2006 |last1=Davies |first1=Paul |journal=Scientific American Sp |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=14–19 }}</ref> With Sung-Won Kim, Thorne identified a universal physical mechanism (the explosive growth of [[vacuum polarization]] of [[Field (physics)#Quantum fields|quantum field]]s), that may always prevent spacetime from developing [[closed timelike curve]]s (i.e., prevent [[time travel#Time travel in physics|backward time travel]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Sung-Won |last2=Thorne |first2=Kip S. |date=1991 |title=Do vacuum fluctuations prevent the creation of closed timelike curves? |url=http://authors.library.caltech.edu/4701/1/KIMprd91.pdf |journal=Physical Review D |volume=43 |issue=12 |pages=3929–3947 |bibcode=1991PhRvD..43.3929K |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.43.3929 |pmid=10013359}}</ref>

With [[Mike Morris (physicist)|Mike Morris]] and [[Ulvi Yurtsever]], he showed that traversable wormholes can exist in the structure of [[spacetime]] only if they are threaded by quantum fields in [[quantum state]]s that violate the [[Energy condition#Mathematical statement|averaged null energy condition]] (i.e. have negative renormalized energy spread over a sufficiently large region).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Morris |first1=Michael S. |last2=Thorne |first2=Kip S. |last3=Yurtsever |first3=Ulvi |date=1988 |title=Wormholes, Time Machines, and the Weak Energy Condition |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/9262/1/MORprl88.pdf |journal=Physical Review Letters |volume=61 |issue=13 |pages=1446–1449 |bibcode=1988PhRvL..61.1446M |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.61.1446 |pmid=10038800}}</ref> This has triggered research to explore the ability of quantum fields to possess such extended [[negative energy]]. Recent calculations by Thorne indicate that simple masses passing through traversable wormholes could never engender [[paradox]]es – there are ''no'' initial conditions that lead to paradox once time travel is introduced. If his results can be generalized, they would suggest that none of the supposed paradoxes formulated in time travel stories can actually be formulated at a precise physical level: that is, that ''any'' situation in a time travel story turns out to permit ''many'' consistent solutions.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

===Relativistic stars, multipole moments and other endeavors===
With [[Anna N. Żytkow|Anna Żytkow]], Thorne predicted the existence of [[Red giant|red supergiant star]]s with [[neutron star|neutron-star]] cores ([[Thorne–Żytkow object]]s).<ref name="tz77">{{Cite journal |last1=Thorne |first1=Kip S. |last2=Żytkow |first2=Anna N. |date=March 15, 1977 |title=Stars with degenerate neutron cores. I - Structure of equilibrium models |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]] |volume=212 |issue=1 |pages=832–858 |bibcode=1977ApJ...212..832T |doi=10.1086/155109}}</ref> He laid the foundations for the theory of [[angular frequency|pulsation]]s of relativistic stars and the gravitational radiation they emit. With [[James Hartle]], Thorne derived from general relativity the laws of motion and precession of black holes and other relativistic bodies, including the influence of the coupling of their [[multipole moments]] to the spacetime curvature of nearby objects,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hartle |first1=James |last2=Thorne |first2=Kip S. |date=1985 |title=Laws of motion and precession for black holes and other bodies |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/9981/1/THOprd85.pdf |journal=Physical Review D |volume=31 |issue=8 |pages=1815–1837 |bibcode=1985PhRvD..31.1815T |doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.31.1815 |pmid=9955908}}</ref> as well as writing down the [[Hartle-Thorne metric]], an approximate solution which describes the exterior of a slowly and rigidly rotating, stationary and axially symmetric body.

Thorne has also theoretically predicted the existence of universally antigravitating "[[exotic matter]]" – the element needed to accelerate the expansion rate of the universe, keep traversable wormhole "Star Gates" open and keep [[Minkowski space|timelike]] [[geodesic]] free float "[[Alcubierre drive|warp drive]]s" working. With Clifford Will<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thorne |first1=Kip S. |last2=Will |first2=Clifford |date=1971 |title=Theoretical Frameworks for Testing Relativistic Gravity. I. Foundations |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=163 |pages=595–610 |bibcode=1971ApJ...163..595T |doi=10.1086/150803}}</ref> and others of his students, he laid the foundations for the theoretical interpretation of experimental [[tests of general relativity|tests of relativistic theories of gravity]] – foundations on which Will and others then built. {{As of|2005}}, Thorne was interested in the origin of classical space and time from the [[quantum foam]] of [[quantum gravity]] theory.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

==Publications==
Thorne has written and edited books on topics in gravitational theory and [[High-energy astronomy|high-energy astrophysics]]. In 1973, he co-authored the textbook ''[[Gravitation (book)|Gravitation]]'' with [[Charles Misner]] and [[John Archibald Wheeler|John Wheeler]];<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Misner |first1=Charles W. |title=Gravitation |last2=Kip S. Thorne |last3=John Archibald Wheeler |date=September 1973 |publisher=W. H. Freeman |isbn=0-7167-0344-0 |location=San Francisco}}</ref> that according to [[John C. Baez]] and Chris Hillman, is one of the great scientific books of all time and has inspired two generations of students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Guide to Relativity books |url=http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Administrivia/rel_booklist.html |date=1998 |website=John Baez, Chris Hillman |publisher=Department of Mathematics, University of California at Riverside |access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref> In 1994, he published ''[[Black Holes and Time Warps|Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy]]'', a book for non-scientists for which he received numerous awards. This book has been published in six languages, and editions in Chinese, Italian, Czech, and Polish are in press.{{When|date=October 2017}} In 2014, Thorne published ''[[The Science of Interstellar]]'' in which he explains the science behind Christopher Nolan's film ''Interstellar''; Nolan wrote the foreword to the book. In September 2017, Thorne and Roger D. Blandford published ''Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics'', a graduate-level textbook covering the six major areas of physics listed in the title.<ref name="Thorne2017">{{Cite book |last=Kip S. Thorne and Roger D. Blandford |title=Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-69115902-7}}</ref>

Thorne's articles have appeared in publications such as:
* ''[[Scientific American]]'',<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Stories by Kip S Thorne |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/kip-s-thorne/ |magazine=Scientific American |access-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref>
* [[McGraw-Hill]] ''[[Yearbook of Science and Technology]]'',<ref>K.S. Thorne, "Gravitational Collapse," in 1976 McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology (McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1967), pp. 193-195</ref> and
* ''[[Collier's Encyclopedia]]''<ref>K.S. Thorne, "Gravitational Collapse," Collier's Encyclopedia (Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation, New York, 1969), pp. 335-336</ref> among others.

Thorne has published more than 150 articles in scholarly journals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/search/p_=0&q=author%3A%22Thorne%2C%20Kip%22%20property%3Arefereed%20%20author_count%3A%5B1%20TO%2020%5D&sort=date%20desc%2C%20bibcode%20desc|title=Abstract search for refereed papers with fewer than 20 authors including author "Kip, Thorne"|website=ui.adsabs.harvard.edu}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
Thorne has been elected to the:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kip S. Thorne: Curriculum Vitae |url=http://www.its.caltech.edu/~kip/scripts/cv.html |publisher=Caltech |access-date=September 18, 2016}}</ref>
* [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] (1972)<ref name="AAAS">{{Cite web |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=April 15, 2011}}</ref>
* [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]],
* [[Russian Academy of Sciences]], and
* [[American Philosophical Society]].

He has been recognized by numerous awards including the:
* [[American Institute of Physics]] Science Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy,
* [[Phi Beta Kappa]] Science Writing Award,
* [[American Physical Society]]'s [[Lilienfeld Prize]],
* [[German Astronomical Society]]'s [[Karl Schwarzschild Medal]] (1996),
* [[Robinson Prize in Cosmology]] from the [[University of Newcastle upon Tyne|University of Newcastle]], England,
* [[Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society]]'s [[Common Wealth Awards for Science and Invention]], and
* [[California Science Center]]'s [[California Scientist of the Year Award]] (2003).
* [[Albert Einstein Medal]] in 2009 from the [[Albert Einstein Society]], Bern, Switzerland
* [[UNESCO Niels Bohr Medal]] from [[UNESCO]] (2010)<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO's Niels Bohr Gold Medal awarded to prominent physicists |url=http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/namely_names/2010/unesco_niels_bohr_gold_medal_awarded_to_prominent_physicists/ |date=September 14, 2010 |publisher=Niels Bohr Institute |access-date=December 8, 2016 |archive-date=December 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221053428/http://www.nbi.ku.dk/english/namely_names/2010/unesco_niels_bohr_gold_medal_awarded_to_prominent_physicists/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Fundamental Physics Prize|Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics]] (2016)
* [[Gruber Prize in Cosmology]] (2016)
* [[Shaw Prize]] (2016)  (together with [[Ronald Drever]] and [[Rainer Weiss]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Shaw Prize - Top prizes for astronomy, life science and mathematics |url=http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=102&threeid=254&fourid=476 |website=www.shawprize.org |access-date=May 8, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303094456/http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=102&threeid=254&fourid=476 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Kavli Prize]] in Astrophysics (2016) (together with Ronald Drever and Rainer Weiss).<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 2, 2016 |title=9 Scientific Pioneers Receive The 2016 Kavli Prizes |publisher=prnewswire.com |url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/9-scientific-pioneers-receive-the-2016-kavli-prizes-300278385.html}}</ref>
* [[Tomalla Foundation|Tomalla Prize]] (2016) for extraordinary contributions to general relativity and gravity.<ref name="Tomalla Foundation">{{Cite web |title=The Tomalla prize holders |url=http://www.tomalla.ch/prize_winner.htm |publisher=The Tomalla Foundation |access-date=September 18, 2016}}</ref>
* [[Georges Lemaître]] Prize (2016)
* [[Harvey Prize]] (2016)  (together with Ronald Drever and Rainer Weiss).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prize Winners – Harvey Prize |url=https://harveypz.net.technion.ac.il/harvey-prize-laureates/ |website=harveypz.net.technion.ac.il |access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>
* Smithsonian Magazine American Ingenuity Award for Physical Sciences (2016)<ref>{{Cite news |title=2016 American Ingenuity Award Winners |work=Smithsonian |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ingenuity/ceremonies/2016-winners/ |access-date=October 15, 2018 |archive-date=October 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011214752/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/ingenuity/ceremonies/2016-winners/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Princess of Asturias Award]] (2017) (jointly with [[Rainer Weiss]] and [[Barry Barish]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rainer Weiss, Kip S. Thorne, Barry C. Barish and LIGO Scientific Collaboration - Laureates - Princess of Asturias Awards |url=https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2017-rainer-weiss-kip-s-thorne-barry-c-barish-and-ligo-scientific-collaboration.html?especifica=0 |last=IT |first=Developed with webControl CMS by Intermark |website=The Princess of Asturias Foundation |language=en |access-date=May 8, 2020}}</ref>
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (2017) (jointly with [[Rainer Weiss]] and [[Barry Barish]])
* [[Lewis Thomas Prize]] (2018)
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (2019)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>

He has been a [[Woodrow Wilson Fellow]], [[Danforth Fellow]], [[Guggenheim Fellowship|Guggenheim Fellow]], and [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright Fellow]]. He has also received the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from [[Claremont Graduate University]] and an honorary doctorate from the Physics Department of the [[Aristotle University of Thessaloniki]]. In 2024 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[University of Cambridge]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-19 |title=Cambridge confers honorary degrees {{!}} University of Cambridge |url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-confers-honorary-degrees |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=www.cam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

He was elected to hold the Lorentz chair for the year 2009  [[Leiden University|Leiden University, the Netherlands]].

Thorne has served on the:
* [[International Committee on General Relativity and Gravitation]],
* [[Committee on US-USSR Cooperation in Physics]], and
* National Academy of Sciences' [[Space Science Board]], which has advised [[NASA]] and Congress on [[space science policy]].

Kip Thorne was selected by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'' magazine]] in an annual [[Time 100|list of the 100 most influential people in the American world]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kip Thorne |url=http://time.com/4299639/kip-thorne-2016-time-100/ |date=April 21, 2016 |website=Christopher Nolan |publisher=Time magazine |access-date=May 8, 2016}}</ref>

==Adaptation in media==
* Thorne contributed ideas on wormhole travel to [[Carl Sagan]] for use in his novel ''[[Contact (novel)|Contact]]''.<ref name="Tech">{{Cite web |title=Contact – High Technology Lends a Hand/Science of the Soundstage |url=http://contact-themovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/technology.html |publisher=[[Warner Bros.]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010304211755/http://contact-themovie.warnerbros.com/cmp/technology.html |archive-date=March 4, 2001 |access-date=September 1, 2014}}</ref>
* Thorne and his friend, producer [[Lynda Obst]], also developed the concept for the Christopher Nolan film ''Interstellar''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fernandez |first=Jay A. |date=March 28, 2007 |title=Writer with real stars in his eyes |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-28-et-scriptland28-story.html |access-date=September 1, 2014}}</ref> He also wrote a tie-in book, ''[[The Science of Interstellar]]''. Thorne later advised Nolan on the physics of his movie ''[[Tenet (film)|Tenet]]'',<ref name="Maddox-Aug2020">{{cite web |last=Maddox |first=Garry |date=August 22, 2020 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/the-biggest-film-i-ve-done-christopher-nolan-on-the-secret-world-of-tenet-20200810-p55kd7.html |title='The biggest film I've done': Christopher Nolan on the secret world of Tenet |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200823045301/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/the-biggest-film-i-ve-done-christopher-nolan-on-the-secret-world-of-tenet-20200810-p55kd7.html |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |access-date=August 23, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> and advised [[Cillian Murphy]] on his portrayal of [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] in Nolan's film ''[[Oppenheimer (film)|Oppenheimer]]''.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00715-3 | doi=10.1038/d41586-024-00715-3 | title=The science of Oppenheimer: Meet the Oscar-winning movie's specialist advisers | date=2024 | last1=O'Callaghan | first1=Jonathan | journal=Nature | pmid=38467812 }}</ref>
* In [[Larry Niven]]'s novel ''[[Rainbow Mars]]'', the time travel technology used in the novel is based on the wormhole theories of Thorne, which in the context of the novel was when time travel first became possible, rather than just fantasy. As a result, any attempts to travel in time prior to Thorne's development of wormhole theory results in the time traveller entering a fantastic version of reality, rather than the actual past.<ref>Larry Niven. ''Rainbow Mars''. New York: [[Tor Books]], 1999, pp. 45, 366.</ref>
* In the film ''[[The Theory of Everything (2014 film)|The Theory of Everything]]'', Thorne was portrayed by actor [[Enzo Cilenti]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Theory of Everything skips over the black holes of marriage and science |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2015/jan/07/the-theory-of-everything-stephen-hawking-eddie-redmayne |last=Tunzelmann |first=Alex von |date=January 7, 2015 |website=The Guardian |access-date=September 29, 2016}}</ref>
* Thorne played himself in the episode of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' entitled "The Laureate Accumulation".
* Thorne is featured in an episode of the documentary series ''[[The Craftsman (TV)|The Craftsman]]'' entitled "Science, Art & Inspiration".

==Partial bibliography==
* Misner, Charles W., Thorne, K. S. and Wheeler, John Archibald, ''[[Gravitation (book)|Gravitation]]'' 1973, (W H Freeman & Co)
* Thorne, K. S., in 300 Years of Gravitation, (Eds.) S. W. Hawking and W. Israel, 1987, (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press), ''Gravitational Radiation''.
* Thorne, K. S., Price, R. H. and Macdonald, DM, ''Black Holes, The Membrane Paradigm'', 1986, (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press).
* Friedman, J., Morris, MS, Novikov, I. D., Echeverria, F., Klinkhammer, G., Thorne, K. S. and Yurtsever, U., Physical Review D., 1990, (in press), ''[[Cauchy problem|Cauchy Problem]] in [[Spacetime]]s with [[Closed Timelike Curve]]s''.
* Thorne, K. S. and Blandford, R. D., ''Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics'', 2017, (Princeton: Princeton University Press).

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0861399|name=Kip Thorne}}
* [http://www.its.caltech.edu/~kip/ Home Page] at [[California Institute of Technology]]
* {{MathGenealogy|id=63787}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070703063220/http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/docs/G/G020325-00/G020325-00.pdf Crunch Time]
* [http://www.usd.edu/phys/courses/phys300/gallery/clark/thorne.html/ Founding Fathers of Relativity]
* {{Nobelprize|name=Kip S. Thorne}}

{{relativity}}
{{Nobel Prize in Physics}}
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{{Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research}}
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