Michael Creutz
Encyclopedia
Michael John Creutz is an American theoretical physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory
specializing in lattice gauge theory
and computational physics
.
, New Mexico
. His father, Edward Creutz, was also a physicist and was working on the Manhattan Project to help build the atomic bomb at the time of Michael's birth.
Creutz graduated with honor with a bachelor's degree in physics from Caltech in 1966. He did his graduate work at Stanford University
under a NSF Graduate Fellowship, graduating in 1970. His thesis was done at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
and his adviser was the noted physicist Sidney Drell
.
After his graduation he served shortly as a research associate at SLAC before moving to the Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park
, where he was a fellow from 1970-1972. In 1972 he joined the High Energy Theory Group at Brookhaven National Laboratory, becoming a Senior Physicist in 1985 and serving as Group leader from 1984 to 1987. In 2003 he became an associate professor at the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics
at nearby Stony Brook University.
. His 1983 textbook Quarks, Gluons, and Lattices was the first full-length textbook on lattice QCD and is considered a classic in the field.
Creutz is a fellow of the American Physical Society
and was the 2000 recipient of the Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics
"for first demonstrating that properties of QCD could be computed numerically on the lattice through Monte Carlo methods, and for numerous contributions to the field thereafter." In 2009 he received a Humboldt Research Award.
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
specializing in lattice gauge theory
Lattice gauge theory
In physics, lattice gauge theory is the study of gauge theories on a spacetime that has been discretized into a lattice. Gauge theories are important in particle physics, and include the prevailing theories of elementary particles: quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics and the Standard...
and computational physics
Computational physics
Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical algorithms to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists...
.
Background
Creutz was born in 1944 in Los AlamosLos Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. His father, Edward Creutz, was also a physicist and was working on the Manhattan Project to help build the atomic bomb at the time of Michael's birth.
Creutz graduated with honor with a bachelor's degree in physics from Caltech in 1966. He did his graduate work at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
under a NSF Graduate Fellowship, graduating in 1970. His thesis was done at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S...
and his adviser was the noted physicist Sidney Drell
Sidney Drell
Sidney David Drell is an American theoretical physicist and arms control expert. He is a professor emeritus at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Drell is a noted contributor in the field of quantum electrodynamics and particle...
.
After his graduation he served shortly as a research associate at SLAC before moving to the Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, where he was a fellow from 1970-1972. In 1972 he joined the High Energy Theory Group at Brookhaven National Laboratory, becoming a Senior Physicist in 1985 and serving as Group leader from 1984 to 1987. In 2003 he became an associate professor at the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics
C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics
The C. N. Yang Institute of Theoretical Physics is a research center at Stony Brook University. In 1965, it was the vision of then University President J.S. Toll and Physics Department chair T.A...
at nearby Stony Brook University.
Research
Creutz's research spans a wide variety of topics in particle physics and mathematical physics, but he is best known for his work on lattice QCDLattice QCD
Lattice QCD is a well-established non-perturbative approach to solving the quantum chromodynamics theory of quarks and gluons. It is a lattice gauge theory formulated on a grid or lattice of points in space and time....
. His 1983 textbook Quarks, Gluons, and Lattices was the first full-length textbook on lattice QCD and is considered a classic in the field.
Creutz is a fellow of the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
and was the 2000 recipient of the Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics
Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics
The Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society since 1993. The recipient is chosen for "outstanding achievement in computational physics research". The prize is named after Aneesur Rahman The Aneesur Rahman Prize for...
"for first demonstrating that properties of QCD could be computed numerically on the lattice through Monte Carlo methods, and for numerous contributions to the field thereafter." In 2009 he received a Humboldt Research Award.
Books
- Quarks, Gluons, and Lattices, M. Creutz (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983).
- Lattice Higgs Workshop, B. Berg, G. Bhanot, M. Burbank, M. Creutz, J. Owens, Eds. (World Scientific, 1988).
- Quantum Fields on the Computer, M. Creutz, ed., (World Scientific, 1992).
External links
- latticeguy.net - personal website
- Creutz's BNL website
- Papers on SPIRES
- arXiv.org preprints