Alexander Borisovich Zamolodchikov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Замоло́дчиков; born September 18, 1952) is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to conformal field theory, statistical mechanics, string theory and condensed matter physics.
He is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished theoretical physicists[1] for his profound contributions to fundamental physics and especially to Quantum Field Theories, for which he was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics[1] in 2024. He is currently the C.N. Yang – Wei Deng Endowed Chair of Physics at Stony Brook University.[2]
Biography
editBorn in Novo-Ivankovo, now part of Dubna, Zamolodchikov earned a M.Sc. in nuclear engineering (1975) from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, a Ph.D. in physics from the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (1978). He joined the research staff of Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (1978) where he got a Doctor of Sciences degree (1983).
He co-authored the famous BPZ paper "Infinite Conformal Symmetry in Two-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory",[3] with Alexander Polyakov and Alexander Belavin.[3][4]
He joined Rutgers University (1990) where he co-founded Rutgers New High Energy Theory Center, and was named Board of Governors Professor (2005).[5]
In 2016, he became the inaugural holder of the C. N. Yang/Wei Deng Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook University.[6]
He is the twin brother of the late Alexei Zamolodchikov (1952–2007), also a noted physicist.[7]
Awards
edit- 1999: Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics with Barry M. McCoy and Tai Tsun Wu for "their groundbreaking and penetrating work on classical statistical mechanics, integrable models and conformal field theories."
- 2003/4: Humboldt Prize
- 2005: Blaise Pascal Chair at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris
- 2011: Lars Onsager Prize, together with Alexander Belavin and Alexander Polyakov, "for the remarkable ideas that they introduced concerning conformal field theory and soluble models of statistical mechanics in two dimensions."
- 2011: Dirac Medal from the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste.
- 2016: elected to the National Academy of Sciences[8]
- 2024: Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics,[9] "for profound contributions to statistical physics and quantum field theory, with diverse and far-reaching applications in different branches of physics and mathematics."
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Zamolodchikov Shares $3M Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics". 2023-09-14. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
- ^ "INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED PHYSICIST APPOINTED AS CHEN NING YANG – WEI DENG ENDOWED CHAIR IN PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY". Stony Brook University. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ a b Belavin AA; Polyakov AM; Zamolodchikov AB (1984). "Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory". Nucl. Phys. B. 241 (2): 333–80. Bibcode:1984NuPhB.241..333B. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(84)90052-X.
- ^ "Princeton celebrates Polyakov's 60th". CERN Courier (March 1): 2. 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
- ^ Alexander Zamolodchikov Named Board of Governors Professor of Physics Archived 2016-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Stony Brook Physics & Astronomy: News". www.physics.sunysb.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-26.
- ^ Alexei Zamolodchikov 1952–2007 Archived 2018-01-14 at the Wayback Machine from CERN (January 1, 2008)
- ^ National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected, News from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, May 3, 2016, retrieved 2016-05-14.
- ^ "BREAKTHROUGH PRIZE ANNOUNCES 2024 LAUREATES IN LIFE SCIENCES, FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS, AND MATHEMATICS". Breakthrough Prize. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.