Alexander "Sasha" Abramovich Belavin (russian: Алекса́ндр Абра́мович Бела́вин, born 1942) is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to

string theory In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interac ...

. He is a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

Independent University of Moscow The Independent University of Moscow (IUM) (russian: Независимый Московский Университет (НМУ)) is an educational organisation with rather informal status located in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1991 by a gro ...

and а researcher at the

Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics The L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics (russian: link=no, Институт теоретической физики имени Л. Д. Ландау (ИТФ)) of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research institution, located in the s ...

. He is also a member of the editorial board of the

Moscow Mathematical Journal The ''Moscow Mathematical Journal'' (MMJ) is a mathematics journal published quarterly by the Independent University of Moscow and the HSE Faculty of Mathematics and distributed by the American Mathematical Society. The journal published its firs ...

Work

Belavin participated in the discovery of the

BPST instanton In theoretical physics, the BPST instanton is the instanton with winding number 1 found by Alexander Belavin, Alexander Polyakov, Albert Schwarz and Yu. S. Tyupkin. It is a classical solution to the equations of motion of SU(2) Yang–Mills the ...

(1975) which aided the understanding of the

chiral anomaly In theoretical physics, a chiral anomaly is the anomalous nonconservation of a chiral current. In everyday terms, it is equivalent to a sealed box that contained equal numbers of left and right-handed bolts, but when opened was found to have more ...

and gave new directions within

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...

. With G. Avdeeva he showed evidence of new coupling regimes for

gauge field theory In physics, a gauge theory is a type of field theory in which the Lagrangian (and hence the dynamics of the system itself) does not change (is invariant) under local transformations according to certain smooth families of operations ( Lie group ...

(1973). He also developed the Belavin S-matrices, exactly solvable models in two-dimensional relativistic theories (1981). He co-authored the BPZ paper (1984) with Alexander Polyakov and

Alexander Zamolodchikov Alexander Borisovich Zamolodchikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Замоло́дчиков; born September 18, 1952) is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to condensed matter physics, two-dimensional conformal ...

two-dimensional conformal field theory A two-dimensional conformal field theory is a quantum field theory on a Euclidean two-dimensional space, that is invariant under local conformal transformations. In contrast to other types of conformal field theories, two-dimensional conformal fie ...

, which became important for string theory. With

Vadim Knizhnik Vadim Genrikhovich Knizhnik ( Russian: Вади́м Ге́нрихович Кни́жник; 20 February 1962, Kiev – 25 December 1987, Moscow) was a Soviet physicist of Jewish and Russian descent. Biography Knizhnik studied physics from 1978 t ...

he obtained the Belavin–Knizhnik theorem on dual amplitudes in string theory (1986).

Awards

Pomeranchuk Prize The Pomeranchuk Prize is an international award for theoretical physics, awarded annually since 1998 by the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) from Moscow. It is named after Russian physicist Isaak Yakovlevich Pomeranchuk, wh ...

2007 for remarkable achievements in quantum field theory, such as instanton solutions in QCD, and deep insights in two-dimensional conformal string theory. *

Lars Onsager Prize The Lars Onsager Prize is a prize in theoretical statistical physics awarded annually by the American Physical Society. Prize recipients receive a medal, certificate, and $10,000. It was established in 1993 by Drs. Russell and Marian Donnelly in m ...

2011, with A. M. Polyakov and A. Zamolodchikov for creating conformal field theory.

Political positions

In February 2022, he signed an open letter by Russian scientists condemning the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Publications

* *

References

External links