Field Theory: Why Have Some Physicists Abandoned It?
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Roman Jackiw: a Beacon in a Golden Period of Theoretical Physics
Roman Jackiw: A Beacon in a Golden Period of Theoretical Physics Luc Vinet Centre de Recherches Math´ematiques, Universit´ede Montr´eal, Montr´eal, QC, Canada [email protected] April 29, 2020 Abstract This text offers reminiscences of my personal interactions with Roman Jackiw as a way of looking back at the very fertile period in theoretical physics in the last quarter of the 20th century. To Roman: a bouquet of recollections as an expression of friendship. 1 Introduction I owe much to Roman Jackiw: my postdoctoral fellowship at MIT under his supervision has shaped my scientific life and becoming friend with him and So Young Pi has been a privilege. Looking back at the last decades of the past century gives a sense without undue nostalgia, I think, that those were wonderful years for Theoretical Physics, years that have witnessed the preeminence of gauge field theories, deep interactions with modern geometry and topology, the overwhelming revival of string theory and remarkably fruitful interactions between particle and condensed matter physics as well as cosmology. Roman was a main actor in these developments and to be at his side and benefit from his guidance and insights at that time was most fortunate. Owing to his leadership and immense scholarship, also because he is a great mentor, Roman has always been surrounded by many and has thus arXiv:2004.13191v1 [physics.hist-ph] 27 Apr 2020 generated a splendid network of friends and colleagues. Sometimes, with my own students, I reminisce about how it was in those days; I believe it is useful to keep a memory of the way some important ideas shaped up and were relayed. -
Reflections on a Revolution John Iliopoulos, Reply by Sheldon Lee Glashow
INFERENCE / Vol. 5, No. 3 Reflections on a Revolution John Iliopoulos, reply by Sheldon Lee Glashow In response to “The Yang–Mills Model” (Vol. 5, No. 2). Internal Symmetries As Glashow points out, particle physicists distinguish To the editors: between space-time and internal symmetry transforma- tions. The first change the point of space and time, leaving Gauge theories brought about a profound revolution in the the fundamental equations unchanged. The second do not way physicists think about the fundamental forces. It is this affect the space-time point but transform the dynamic vari- revolution that is the subject of Sheldon Glashow’s essay. ables among themselves. This fundamentally new concept Gauge theories, such as the Yang–Mills model, use two was introduced by Werner Heisenberg in 1932, the year mathematical concepts: group theory, which is the natural the neutron was discovered, but the real history is more language to describe the physical property of symmetry, complicated.3 Heisenberg’s 1932 papers are an incredible and differential geometry, which connects in a subtle way mixture of the old and the new. For many people at that symmetry and dynamics. time, the neutron was a new bound state of a proton and Although there exist several books, and many more an electron, like a small hydrogen atom. Heisenberg does articles, relating historical aspects of these theories,1 a not reject this idea. Although for his work he considers real history has not yet been written. It may be too early. the neutron as a spin one-half Dirac fermion, something When a future historian undertakes this task, Glashow’s incompatible with a proton–electron bound state, he notes precise, documented, and authoritative essay will prove that “under suitable circumstances [the neutron] can invaluable. -
2017 Breakthrough Prizes in Mathematics and Fundamental
COMMUNICATION 2017 Breakthrough Prizes Awarded Jean Bourgain Joseph Polchinski Andrew Strominger Cumrun Vafa Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics be obtained from the results of Weil and Deligne on the Jean Bourgain of the Institute for Advanced Study, Riemann hypothesis over finite fields), as well as the de- Princeton, New Jersey, has been selected as the recipient velopment (with Gamburd and Sarnak) of the affine sieve of the 2017 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics by the that has proven to be a powerful tool for analyzing thin Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Bourgain was honored for groups. Most recently, with Demeter and Guth, Bourgain “major contributions across an incredibly diverse range of has established several important decoupling theorems areas, including harmonic analysis, functional analysis, er- in Fourier analysis that have had applications to partial godic theory, partial differential equations, mathematical differential equations, combinatorial incidence geometry, physics, combinatorics, and theoretical computer science.” and analytic number theory, in particular solving the Main The prize carries a cash award of US$3 million. Conjecture of Vinogradov, as well as obtaining new bounds The Notices asked Terence Tao of the University of Cal- on the Riemann zeta function.” ifornia Los Angeles to comment on the work of Bourgain (Tao was on the Breakthrough Prize committee and was Biographical Sketch: Jean Bourgain also one of the nominators of Bourgain). Tao responded: Jean Bourgain was born in 1954 in Oostende, Belgium. He “Jean Bourgain is an unparalleled problem-solver in anal- received his PhD (1977) and his habilitation (1979) from ysis who has revolutionized many areas of the subject by the Free University of Brussels. -
What Comes Beyond the Standard Models Bled, July 11–19, 2016
i i “proc16” — 2016/12/12 — 10:17 — page I — #1 i i BLEJSKE DELAVNICE IZ FIZIKE LETNIK 17, STˇ . 2 BLED WORKSHOPS IN PHYSICS VOL. 17, NO. 2 ISSN 1580-4992 Proceedings to the 19th Workshop What Comes Beyond the Standard Models Bled, July 11–19, 2016 Edited by Norma Susana MankoˇcBorˇstnik Holger Bech Nielsen Dragan Lukman DMFA – ZALOZNIˇ STVOˇ LJUBLJANA, DECEMBER 2016 i i i i i i “proc16” — 2016/12/12 — 10:17 — page II — #2 i i The 19th Workshop What Comes Beyond the Standard Models, 11.– 19. July 2016, Bled was organized by Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia and sponsored by Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia Beyond Semiconductor (MatjaˇzBreskvar) Scientific Committee John Ellis, CERN Roman Jackiw, MIT Masao Ninomiya, Okayama Institute for Quantum Physics Organizing Committee Norma Susana MankoˇcBorˇstnik Holger Bech Nielsen Maxim Yu. Khlopov The Members of the Organizing Committee of the International Workshop “What Comes Beyond the Standard Models”, Bled, Slovenia, state that the articles published in the Proceedings to the 19th Workshop “What Comes Beyond the Standard Models”, Bled, Slovenia are refereed at the Workshop in intense in-depth discussions. i i i i i i “proc16” — 2016/12/12 — 10:17 — page III — #3 i i Workshops organized at Bled . What Comes Beyond the Standard Models (June 29–July 9, 1998), Vol. 0 (1999) No. 1 (July 22–31, 1999) (July 17–31, 2000) (July 16–28, 2001), Vol. 2 (2001) No. 2 (July 14–25, 2002), Vol. -
Theoretical and Mathematical Physics New Books and Highlights in 2020/2021
Now available on WorldSciNet Theoretical and Mathematical Physics New Books and Highlights in 2020/2021 Textbook Textbook Textbook Mathematical Methods of Theoretical Physics Roman Jackiw by Karl Svozil (Technische Universität Wien, Austria) 80th Birthday Festschrift edited by Antti Niemi (University of Stockholm, Sweden), This book contains very detailed proofs and demonstrations of common Terry Tomboulis (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) & mathematical methods used in theoretical physics. It combines and unifies Kok Khoo Phua (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) many expositions of the subject and thus is accessible to a very wide range of students, such as those interested in experimental and applied physics. The ○ Dedicated to Roman Jackiw, a theoretical physicist known for content is divided into three parts: linear vector spaces, functional analysis his fundamental contributions in high energy physics, gravita- and differential equations. tion, condensed matter and the physics of fluids. ○ With contributions from prominent scientists including two No- 332pp Mar 2020 bel laureates and one Field Medalist. 978-981-120-840-9 US$78 £70 ○ Also included are personal recollections and humorous anec- dotes from Jackiw’s friends and colleagues. Lectures on Quantum Field Theory 336pp Aug 2020 (2nd Edition) 978-981-121-066-2 US$118 £105 by Ashok Das (University of Rochester, USA) “Comprehensive yet at the beginner’s level, lucid and informal, this new An Introduction to Inverse Problems in Physics edition of Lectures on Quantum Field Theory contains new material by M Razavy (University of Alberta, Canada) including two new chapters and two additional appendices. The book This book is a compilation of different methods of formulating and solving will be of interest to students of mathematics and theoretical physics, inverse problems in physics from classical mechanics to the potentials and teachers and researchers.” nucleus-nucleus scattering. -
Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory Quantum Field Theory Is a Powerful Language for the Description of The
Conceptual foundations of quantum ®eld theory Quantum ®eld theory is a powerful language for the description of the sub- atomic constituents of the physical world and the laws and principles that govern them. This book contains up-to-date in-depth analyses, by a group of eminent physicists and philosophers of science, of our present understanding of its conceptual foundations, of the reasons why this understanding has to be revised so that the theory can go further, and of possible directions in which revisions may be promising and productive. These analyses will be of interest to students of physics who want to know about the foundational problems of their subject. The book will also be of interest to professional philosophers, historians and sociologists of science. It contains much material for metaphysical and methodological re¯ection on the subject; it will also repay historical and cultural analyses of the theories discussed in the book, and sociological analyses of the way in which various factors contribute to the way the foundations are revised. The authors also re¯ect on the tension between physicists on the one hand and philosophers and historians of science on the other, when revision of the foundations becomes an urgent item on the agenda. This work will be of value to graduate students and research workers in theoretical physics, and in the history, philosophy and sociology of science, who have an interest in the conceptual foundations of quantum ®eld theory. For Bob and Sam Conceptual foundations of quantum ®eld theory EDITOR TIAN YU CAO Boston University PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA http://www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia # Cambridge University Press 1999 This book is in copyright. -
Swarthmore College Bulletin (June 1997)
SSWWAARRTTHHMMOORREE College Bulletin June 1997 The Future of Dying Tom Preston ’55 on physician- assisted suicide Eugene M. Lang ’38, shown here surrounded by some of the current Lang Opportunity Scholars, has pledged $30 million to Swarthmore, the largest gift in College history and among the most generous ever given to a liberal arts college. Lang came to the campus in April E E L to meet prospective Lang G N E J - G Scholars for the Class of N E D 2001. For more on Eugene Lang’s “Fund for the Future,” please turn to page 6. SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN • JUNE 1997 10 The New Face of Honors The Honors Program had fallen on hard times when the faculty voted sweeping reforms in 1994. Now enrollment is up, and students are enjoying new flexibility in preparing for external exams. Take a look at what’s happened to the College’s signa- ture program through the eyes of faculty members and students. Editor: Jeffrey Lott D Associate Editor: Nancy Lehman ’87 16 Elegant Euclid News Editor: Kate Downing Former math hater Nick Jackiw ’88 invented one of the most Class Notes Editor: Carol Brévart F widely used software programs in mathematics education, Desktop Publishing: Audree Penner R Geometer’s Sketchpad. With it two 16-year-olds created a novel T Designer: Bob Wood solution to a problem first posed by Euclid 2,300 years ago. Editor Emerita: Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 A P6 P4 P2 By Eric Rich Associate Vice President for External Affairs: Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59 20 The Future of Dying Cover: Physician and Supreme Modern medicine has changed the nature of dying, argues Court plaintiff Thomas Preston ’55. -
Hans Bethe, My Teacher
Hans Bethe, My Teacher The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Jackiw, Roman. “Hans Bethe, My Teacher.” Physics in Perspective (PIP) 11.1 (2009): 98-103. As Published http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00016-008-0412-4 Publisher Birkhäuser Basel Version Original manuscript Citable link http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51720 Terms of Use Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Hans Bethe, My Teachera Roman Jackiwb I sketch my experiences with Hans Bethe (1906-2005) as a teacher at Cornell University, beginning with my doctoral studies in 1961 and continuing with my work with him on an intermediate textbook on quantum mechanics. Key Words: Hans A. Bethe; Cornell University; physics teaching; nuclear physics; quantum mechanics. In recent times we have seen many appreciations and testimonials about Hans Bethe’s outstanding achievements: extraordinary breadth of physics research, significant involvement with social, political, and policy issues, important activity in the industrial and technological arenas. I am sure Hans would be pleased with these encomiums. But perhaps he would wonder why there is little mention of his qualities as pedagogue. After all, Professor Bethe was fundamentally a teacher, imparting his knowledge not only to physics colleagues, not only to people in society, government, and industry, but most importantly also to students, many of whom became distinguished physicists. Even though he received the Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 1983 for his teaching, I think that this aspect of his a Based on my talk at the Bethe Memorial, Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen, CO, in August 2006. -
Quantum [Un]Speakables Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg Gmbh
Quantum [Un]speakables Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH ONLINE LIBRARY Physics and Astronomy http://www.springer.de/phys/ R.A. Bertlmann A. Zeilinger Quantum [Un]speakables From Bell to Quantum Information With 141 Figures, 4 in Color t Springer Professor Dr. Reinhold A. Bertlmann University of Vienna, Institute for Theoretical Physics Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] Professor Dr. Anton Zeilinger University of Vienna, Institute for Experimental Physics Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria e-mail: [email protected] Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Quantum [un]speakables : from Bell to quantum information I [edited by] R.A. Bertimann, A. Zeilinger. p. cm. Includes biblographical references and index. ISBN 3540427562 (acid-free pa per) 1. Bell's theorem--Congresses. 3. Bell, J.S.--Congress. I. Bell, J.S. II. Bertlmann, Reinhold A. III. Zeilinger, Anton. QC174.17.B45 Q36 2002 530.12--dc21 2002021641 ISBN 978-3-642-07664-0 ISBN 978-3-662-05032-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-05032-2 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. -
Two Quantum Effects in the Theory of Gravitation
Two Quantum Effects in the Theory of Gravitation by Sean Patrick Robinson S.B., Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999) Submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2005 © Sean Patrick Robinson, MMV. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. MASSCHUSETSSE OF TECHNOLOGY JUN 0 7 2005 Au th or ............................. ....-............. ...............LIBRARIES Department of Physics May 19, 2005 Certified by -/ 'I C ertifi ed by......... .............. -... ............................. Frank Wilczek Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics Thesis Supervisor ~~~~~ ~~~~/ A ccepted by ........................... Professr Thom/Greytak Associate Department Head fo ducation Two Quantum Effects in the Theory of Gravitation by Sean Patrick Robinson Submitted to the Department of Physics on May 19, 2005, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics Abstract We will discuss two methods by which the formalism of quantum field theory can be included in calculating the physical effects of gravitation. In the first of these, the consequences of treating general relativity as an effective quantum field theory will be examined. The primary result will be the calculation of the first-order quantum gravity corrections to the /3 functions of arbitrary Yang-Mills theories. These correc- tions will effect the high-energy phenomenology of such theories, including the details of coupling constant unification. Following this, we will address the question of how to form effective quantum field theories in classical gravitational backgrounds. -
Holographic Renormalization of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton Theories" (2016)
University of Kentucky UKnowledge Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications Physics and Astronomy 11-8-2016 Holographic Renormalization of Einstein-Maxwell- Dilaton Theories Bom Soo Kim University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits oy u. Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_facpub Part of the Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons, and the Physics Commons Repository Citation Kim, Bom Soo, "Holographic Renormalization of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton Theories" (2016). Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications. 403. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_facpub/403 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Physics and Astronomy at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Holographic Renormalization of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton Theories Notes/Citation Information Published in Journal of High Energy Physics, v. 2016, no. 11, article 44, p. 1-43. © The Author(s) 2016 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Digital Object Identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP11(2016)044 This article is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/physastron_facpub/403 Published for SISSA by Springer Received: September 15, 2016 Accepted: November 2, 2016 Published: November 8, 2016 Holographic renormalization of JHEP11(2016)044 Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theories Bom Soo Kim Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, U.S.A. -
Princeton Series in Physics Edited Byphilip W.Anderson, Arthur S
Princeton Series in Physics Edited byPhilip W.Anderson, Arthur S. Wlghtman, and Sam B. Trelman Quantum Mechanics for Flamiltonians Defined as Quadratic Forms byBarry Simon Lectureson Current Algebra and Its Applications bySam B. Trelman. Roman Jackiw, and David). Gross PhysicalCosmology byPIE. Peebles TheMany-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics editedby B. S. DeWitt and N. Graham HomogeneousRelativistic Cosmologies by MichaelP. Ryan. Jr. • and Lawrence C. Shepley TheP(4), Euclidean (Quantum) Field Theory byBarry Simon Studiesin Mathematical Physics: Essays in Honor of Valentine Bargmann editedby Elliott H. Lieb, B. Simon. and A. S. Wightman Convexityin the Theory of Lattice Oases byRobert B. Israel Workson the Foundations of Statistical Physics byN. S. Krylov Surprisesin Theoretical Physics byRudolf Peierls TheLarge-Scale Structure or the Universe byPiE. Peebles StatisticalPhysics and the Atomic Theory of Matter. From Boyle and Newton to Landau and Onsager byStephen G. Brush QuantumTheory and Measurement editedby John Archibald Wheeler and Wajcierh Hubert Zurek CurrentAlgebra and Anomalies bSam B. Treiman. Roman Jackiw. Bruno Zamino. and Edward Witten Quantumfluctuations byE. Nelson SpinOlasses and Other Frustrated Systems byDebashish Chowdhury (Spin Glasses and Other Frustrated Systems ispublished in co-operation with World Scientifte Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., Singapore.) Large-Scale Motions in the Universe: A Vatican Study Week editedby Vera C. Rabin and George V. Coyne. S.). Instabilitiesand Fronts in Extended Systems byPierre Collet and Jean-Pierre Lckmann FromPerturbative to Constructive Renormalization byVincent Rtvasseau Maxwell'sDemon: Entropy. Information. Computing editedby haney S. Leff and Andrew F. Rex MoreSurprises in Theoretical Physics byRudolf PeierLs Supcrsymmetryand Supergravity. Second Edition. Revised and Expanded by Jul:u.sWess and Jonathan Bagger Introductionto Algebraic and Constructive Quantum Field Theory /n JohnC'.Rae:.