Ernst Stueckelberg
Encyclopedia
Ernst Carl Gerlach Stueckelberg (February 1, 1905, Basel
- September 4, 1984, Geneva) was a Swiss mathematician
and physicist
.
under August Hagenbach. He qualified as a university lecturer together with Konrad Bleuler
under supervision from Gregor Wentzel
at the University of Zürich
.
In 1934 he devised a fully covariant perturbation theory for quantum fields. To quote this paper, "The approach proposed by Stueckelberg was far more powerful, but was not adopted by others at the time". Now, despite its benefits, this approach has been all but forgotten. However, besides being explicitly covariant, Stueckelberg's methods avoid vacuum bubbles. See also here.
Independently from Hideki Yukawa
, he gave vector boson exchange as the theoretical explanation of the strong nuclear force in 1935.
In 1938 he recognized that massive electrodynamics contains a hidden scalar, and formulated an affine version of what would become known as the Abelian Higgs mechanism
.
He proposed the law of conservation of baryon number.
The evolution parameter theory he presented in 1941 and 1942 is the basis for recent work in relativistic dynamics
.
In 1941 he proposed the interpretation of the positron
as a negative energy electron traveling backward in time.
In 1943 he came up with a renormalization
program to attack the problems of infinities in quantum electrodynamics
(QED), but his paper was rejected by the Physical Review
.
In 1953 he and the mathematician Andre Petermann discovered the renormalization group
.
In 1976 he was awarded the Max Planck medal
.
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
- September 4, 1984, Geneva) was a Swiss mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
.
Career
In 1927 Stueckelberg got his Ph. D. at the University of BaselUniversity of Basel
The University of Basel is located in Basel, Switzerland, and is considered to be one of leading universities in the country...
under August Hagenbach. He qualified as a university lecturer together with Konrad Bleuler
Konrad Bleuler
Konrad Bleuler was a Swiss physicist who worked in the field of theoretical particle physics and quantum field theory. He is known for his work on the quantisation of the photon, the Gupta–Bleuler formalism.-Education and career:Bleuler was born in Herzogenbuchsee, Switzerland on 23 September 1912...
under supervision from Gregor Wentzel
Gregor Wentzel
Gregor Wentzel was a German physicist known for development of quantum mechanics. Wentzel, Hendrik Kramers, and Léon Brillouin developed the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation in 1926...
at the University of Zürich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
.
In 1934 he devised a fully covariant perturbation theory for quantum fields. To quote this paper, "The approach proposed by Stueckelberg was far more powerful, but was not adopted by others at the time". Now, despite its benefits, this approach has been all but forgotten. However, besides being explicitly covariant, Stueckelberg's methods avoid vacuum bubbles. See also here.
Independently from Hideki Yukawa
Hideki Yukawa
né , was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate.-Biography:Yukawa was born in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto. In 1929, after receiving his degree from Kyoto Imperial University, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in...
, he gave vector boson exchange as the theoretical explanation of the strong nuclear force in 1935.
In 1938 he recognized that massive electrodynamics contains a hidden scalar, and formulated an affine version of what would become known as the Abelian Higgs mechanism
Higgs mechanism
In particle physics, the Higgs mechanism is the process in which gauge bosons in a gauge theory can acquire non-vanishing masses through absorption of Nambu-Goldstone bosons arising in spontaneous symmetry breaking....
.
He proposed the law of conservation of baryon number.
The evolution parameter theory he presented in 1941 and 1942 is the basis for recent work in relativistic dynamics
Relativistic dynamics
Relativistic dynamics refers to a combination of relativistic and quantum concepts to describe the relationships between the motion and properties of a relativistic system and the forces acting on the system...
.
In 1941 he proposed the interpretation of the positron
Positron
The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. The positron has an electric charge of +1e, a spin of ½, and has the same mass as an electron...
as a negative energy electron traveling backward in time.
In 1943 he came up with a renormalization
Renormalization
In quantum field theory, the statistical mechanics of fields, and the theory of self-similar geometric structures, renormalization is any of a collection of techniques used to treat infinities arising in calculated quantities....
program to attack the problems of infinities in quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...
(QED), but his paper was rejected by the Physical Review
Physical Review
Physical Review is an American scientific journal founded in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research and scientific and literature reviews on all aspects of physics. It is published by the American Physical Society. The journal is in its third series, and is split in several...
.
In 1953 he and the mathematician Andre Petermann discovered the renormalization group
Renormalization group
In theoretical physics, the renormalization group refers to a mathematical apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different distance scales...
.
In 1976 he was awarded the Max Planck medal
Max Planck medal
The Max Planck medal is an award for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. It is awarded annually by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft , the world's largest organization of physicists.-List of recipients:...
.
See also
- Timeline of atomic and subatomic physics
- PropagatorPropagatorIn quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, the propagator gives the probability amplitude for a particle to travel from one place to another in a given time, or to travel with a certain energy and momentum. Propagators are used to represent the contribution of virtual particles on the internal...
- Relativistic dynamicsRelativistic dynamicsRelativistic dynamics refers to a combination of relativistic and quantum concepts to describe the relationships between the motion and properties of a relativistic system and the forces acting on the system...
- Stueckelberg action
- Stueckelberg-Feynman interpretationAntiparticleCorresponding to most kinds of particles, there is an associated antiparticle with the same mass and opposite electric charge. For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positively charged antielectron, or positron, which is produced naturally in certain types of radioactive decay.The...
External links
- http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/ecgstcklbrg.html
- blog post concerning Stueckelberg with comment by Petermann
- Oakley The search for Quantum Field Theory