Spotlight on doctoral research: Milena and Jelena Smolic
On 17 April, the sisters Milena (1982) and Jelena (1981) Smolic defended their doctoral theses at the Institute of Physics (IoP). As part of their research, they developed new formulas that can prospectively be used to describe the formation of black holes based on the holographic principle.
How did you manage to arrange it so you both obtained your doctorates on the same day?
J: ‘It more or less just worked out that way. We’ve been working practically in tandem since starting our Master’s degrees. That was at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where Milena was one year behind me. Then I ran into problems with my final project in the last year of my MSc in Physics. When Milena began her final project, my supervisor asked if I wanted to pair up on it with her. So I did. After that, we both sent open applications to the IoP to work as doctoral researchers, and were both accepted.’
M: ‘In Physics, it’s not unusual to work together as a duo. You’ve got the sisters Melanie and Katrin Becker, both professors of Theoretical Physics at Texas A&M University, and of course there’s Erik and Herman Verlinde.’
What was the focus of your research?
M: ‘Broadly, what we’re trying to do is understand gravity. If we can refine our understanding how gravity works at the most fundamental level, we’ll have a better insight into how the world fits together. Specifically, we looked at the holographic principle, which describes a universe resembling a spherical volume. This principle states that all phenomena inside the sphere can be described in terms of the degrees of freedom at the boundary – that is, on the surface of the sphere. While there is gravity inside the sphere, on the surface there isn’t. For this reason, the principle can play a crucial role helping us understand gravity. So how can a theory positing gravity be equal to a theory positing no gravity? By making calculations on either side of the principle, we were able to come closer to defining systems that are out of balance, such as those at the basis of black holes. These are areas in space from which nothing can escape.’
Did you do all your work together?
M: ‘Early on, we did almost everything together, but as time went on we each went our own way more. Doing the research jointly had lots of benefits. For example, we always worked out our calculations separately first and then compared them in order to see if everything fit. It was also useful to be able to discuss the physics behind our projects with each other. Plus we wrote a number of papers together. Obviously, though, we’re each defending our own doctoral thesis.’
Are you the next Melanie and Katrin Becker?
J: ‘I don’t think so. I’m not planning to continue in theoretical physics, at any rate. It would take me several more years to completely come to grips with this subject, and I’d prefer to broaden my horizons. I’m still not even sure if research is the direction I want to go in. It’s hard work, especially once you’ve got a PhD, and most appointments are temporary.’
M: ‘I’m also planning to head in a different direction. I’d like to do something with renewable energy.’
J: ‘That’s a field that interests me too.’
Author: Carin Röst