Giorgio Parisi
Encyclopedia
Giorgio Parisi is an Italian theoretical physicist. He is best known for his works concerning statistical mechanics
, quantum field theory
and various aspects of physics
, mathematics
and science
in general.
Giorgio Parisi's research focused mainly on disordered systems, in particular on spin glass
modelling. He also found many applications of spin glass theory to optimization theory
, Biology
and Immunology
. Giorgio Parisi has been awarded several honors; the Boltzmann Medal
and the Dirac Medal. He is one of the two Italian physicists to be member of the American National Academy of Sciences
.
Giorgio Parisi is one of the top-rated physicists on the h-index
standing.
in 1970, supervised by Nicola Cabibbo
. He became a researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (1971–1981) while visiting Columbia University
in New York (1973–1974), the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
(1976–1977), and the École Normale Supérieure
(1977–1978). He got Professor ordinarius position in 1981 at University of Rome Tor Vergata
, and in 1992 at University of Rome La Sapienza
, where he actually teaches "Statistical mechanics and critical phenomena".
The Boltzmann Medal for 1992 is hereby awarded to Giorgio Parisi for his fundamental contributions to statistical physics, and particularly for his solution of the mean field theory of spin glasses.
Statistical mechanics
Statistical mechanics or statistical thermodynamicsThe terms statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics are used interchangeably...
, quantum field theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
and various aspects of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in general.
Giorgio Parisi's research focused mainly on disordered systems, in particular on spin glass
Spin glass
A spin glass is a magnet with frustrated interactions, augmented by stochastic disorder, where usually ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic bonds are randomly distributed...
modelling. He also found many applications of spin glass theory to optimization theory
Optimization (mathematics)
In mathematics, computational science, or management science, mathematical optimization refers to the selection of a best element from some set of available alternatives....
, Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and Immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. Giorgio Parisi has been awarded several honors; the Boltzmann Medal
Boltzmann Medal
The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann...
and the Dirac Medal. He is one of the two Italian physicists to be member of the American National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
Giorgio Parisi is one of the top-rated physicists on the h-index
H-index
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar. The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number of citations that they have received in other publications...
standing.
Biography
Giorgio Parisi graduated in University of Rome La SapienzaUniversity of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
in 1970, supervised by Nicola Cabibbo
Nicola Cabibbo
Nicola Cabibbo was an Italian physicist, best known for his work on the weak interaction. He was also the president of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics from 1983 to 1992, and from 1993 until his death he was the president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences...
. He became a researcher at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (1971–1981) while visiting Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York (1973–1974), the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
The Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques is a French institute supporting advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics...
(1976–1977), and the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
(1977–1978). He got Professor ordinarius position in 1981 at University of Rome Tor Vergata
University of Rome Tor Vergata
The University of Rome Tor Vergata is a public university located in Rome, Italy. It is one of the largest research-based institutions in the country. The University is an international center for research and education and it is well known for scientific studies...
, and in 1992 at University of Rome La Sapienza
University of Rome La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome, officially Sapienza – Università di Roma, formerly known as Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a coeducational, autonomous state university in Rome, Italy...
, where he actually teaches "Statistical mechanics and critical phenomena".
Awards
- Boltzmann MedalBoltzmann MedalThe Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann...
, 1992. The motivations for the Boltzmann Medal read
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-
- Giorgio Parisi, Professor at the University of Rome, is a theoretical physicist of exceptional depth and scope. He has contributed at the highest level to particle physics, computer science, fluid mechanics, theoretical immunology, etc. etc. Today we honor him for his outstanding contributions to statistical physics, and particularly to the theories of phase transitions and of disordered systems. Among these many contributions, I would specifically mention Parisi's early work in which he showed how conformal invariance can be used in a quantitative way to calculate critical exponents. He was also the first to really understand that one can derive critical exponents through expansions of the beta function at fixed dimensions, avoiding the convergence problems of the epsilon-expansion. The opened the way to the current best theoretical estimates of exponents. Another important achievement concerns the mapping of the branched polymer problem in d-dimensions onto that of the Lee-Yang edge singularity on d-2 dimensions. Most recently, Parisi's work on interfaces in disordered media and on the dynamics of growing interfaces has had a large impact on these fields. However, Parisi's deepest contribution concerns the solution of the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick mean field model for spin glasses. After the crisis caused by the unacceptable properties of the simple solutions, which used the "replication trick", Parisi proposed his replica symmetry breaking solution, which seems to be exact, although much more complex than anticipated. Later, Parisi and co-workers Mezard and Virasoro clarified greatly the physical meaning of the mysterious mathematics involved in this scheme, in terms of the probability distribution of overlaps and the ultrametric structure of the configuration space. This achievement forms one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of disordered systems. This discovery opened the doors to vast areas of application. e.g., in optimization problems and in neural network theories.
-
The Boltzmann Medal for 1992 is hereby awarded to Giorgio Parisi for his fundamental contributions to statistical physics, and particularly for his solution of the mean field theory of spin glasses.
- Dirac Medal and PrizeDirac PrizeThe Dirac Prize is the name of four prominent awards in the field of theoretical physics, computational chemistry, and mathematics, awarded by different organizations, named in honour of Professor Paul Dirac, one of the great theoretical physicists of the 20th Century.- The Dirac Medal and Lecture...
, 1999. The motivations for the Dirac Medal are
-
-
- Giorgio Parisi is distinguished for his original and deep contributions to many areas of physics ranging from the study of scaling violations in deep inelastic processes (Altarelli-Parisi equationsDGLAPDGLAP are the authors who first wrote the QCD evolution equation of the same name. DGLAP was first published in the western world by Altarelli and Parisi in 1977, hence DGLAP and its specialisations are sometimes still called Altarelli-Parisi equations...
), the proposal of the superconductor's flux confinement model as a mechanism for quark confinement, the use of supersymmetry in statistical classical systems, the introduction of multifractals in turbulence, the stochastic differential equation for growth models for random aggregation (the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang model) and his groundbreaking analysis of the replica method that has permitted an important breakthrough in our understanding of glassy systems and has proved to be instrumental in the whole subject of Disordered Systems.
- Giorgio Parisi is distinguished for his original and deep contributions to many areas of physics ranging from the study of scaling violations in deep inelastic processes (Altarelli-Parisi equations
-
- Enrico Fermi AwardEnrico Fermi AwardThe Enrico Fermi Award is an award honoring scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy. It is administered by the U.S. government's Department of Energy...
, 2002.
- Microsoft AwardMicrosoft AwardThe Royal Society and Académies des sciences Microsoft Award is an annual award given by the Royal Society and the Académie des sciences to scientists working in Europe who have made a major contribution to the advancement of science through the use of computational methods...
, 2007. The motivations for the Microsoft Award read
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- He has made outstanding contributions to elementary particle physics, quantum field theory and statistical mechanics, in particular to the theory of phase transitions and replica symmetry breaking for spin glasses. His approach of using computers to corroborate the conclusions of analytical proofs and to actively motivate further research has been of fundamental importance in his field.
-
- Lagrange Prize, 2009. Awarded to scientists who have contributed most to the development of the science of complexityComplexityIn general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
in various areas of knowledge.
- Max Planck MedalMax Planck medalThe 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:...
, 2011. The Max Planck medal is an award for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. It is awarded annually by the Deutsche Physikalische GesellschaftDeutsche Physikalische GesellschaftThe Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft is the world's largest organization of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,000, as of 2011...
, the world's largest organization of physicists.