 erik peter verlinde (born 21 january 1962) is a dutch theoretical physicist and string theorist. he is the identical twin brother of physicist herman verlinde. the verlinde formula, which is important in conformal field theory and topological field theory, is named after him. his research deals with string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. currently he works at the institute for theoretical physics at the university of amsterdam. at a symposium at the dutch spinoza-institute on 8 december 2009 he introduced a theory of entropic gravity. in this theory, gravity exists because of a difference in concentration of information in the empty space between two masses and its surroundings; he also extrapolates this to general relativity and quantum mechanics. he said in an interview with the newspaper de volkskrant, "on the smallest level newton's laws don't apply, but they do for apples and planets. you can compare this to pressure of gas. molecules themselves don't have any pressure, but a barrel of gas has." it appears that verlinde's approach to explaining gravity leads naturally to the correct observed strength of dark energy. ==biography== erik verlinde was born in the dutch village of woudenberg on january 21, 1962, together with his identical twin brother, herman verlinde. he went to school in the nearby city of utrecht, where he graduated from the gymnasium in 1980. that fall he started his studies in theoretical physics together with his twin brother at utrecht university. here he studied with an extraordinary class of students including himself and his brother, robbert dijkgraaf, and kareljan schoutens (now dean of the faculty of
1962_births Dutch_physicists Living_people People_from_Woudenberg String_theorists Theoretical_physicists University_of_Amsterdam_faculty Utrecht_University_alumni