Arthur Michael Jaffe (; born December 22, 1937) is an American
mathematical physicist
Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developmen ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where in 1985 he succeeded
George Mackey
George Whitelaw Mackey (February 1, 1916 – March 15, 2006) was an American mathematician known for his contributions to quantum logic, representation theory, and noncommutative geometry.
Career
Mackey earned his bachelor of arts at Rice Univer ...
as the Landon T. Clay Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Science.
Education and career
After graduating from
Pelham Memorial High School
The Pelham Memorial High School is the only high school within the town of Pelham, New York, United States. It is part of the Pelham Union Free School District.
A small portion of land that is between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park, with a total ...
in 1955, Jaffe attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
as an undergraduate obtaining a degree in chemistry in 1959, and later
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...
, as a
Marshall Scholar
The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...
, obtaining a degree in mathematics in 1961. He then returned to Princeton, obtaining a doctorate in physics in 1966 with
Arthur Wightman
Arthur Strong Wightman (March 30, 1922 – January 13, 2013) was an American mathematical physicist. He was one of the founders of the axiomatic approach to quantum field theory, and originated the set of Wightman axioms. With his rigorous treatm ...
. His whole career has been spent teaching mathematical physics and pursuing research at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. His 26 doctoral students include
Joel Feldman,
Ezra Getzler, and
Clifford Taubes
Clifford Henry Taubes (born February 21, 1954) is the William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University and works in gauge field theory, differential geometry, and low-dimensional topology. His brother is the journalist Gary Taube ...
. He has had many post-doctoral collaborators, including ,
Konrad Osterwalder
Konrad Osterwalder (born June 3, 1942) is a Swiss mathematician and physicist, former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations, former Rector of the United Nations University (UNU), and Rector Emeritus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Techn ...
,
Juerg Froehlich, ,
Thomas Spencer, and
Antti Kupiainen Antti Kupiainen (born 23 June 1954, Varkaus, Finland) is a Finnish mathematical physicist.
Education and career
Kupiainen completed his undergraduate education in 1976 at the Technical University of Helsinki and received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Pri ...
.
For several years Jaffe was president of the
International Association of Mathematical Physics
The International Association of Mathematical Physics (IAMP) was founded in 1976 to promote research in mathematical physics. It brings together research mathematicians and theoretical physicists, including students. The association's ordinary memb ...
, and later of the
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...
. He chaired the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. He presently serves as chair of the board of the
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...
, School of Theoretical Physics.
Jaffe conceived the idea of the
Clay Mathematics Institute
The Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) is a private, non-profit foundation (nonprofit), foundation dedicated to increasing and disseminating mathematics, mathematical knowledge. Formerly based in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the corporate address i ...
and its programs, including the employment of research fellows and the Millennium Prizes in mathematics. He served as a founding member, a founding member of the board, and the founding president of that organization.
Arthur Jaffe began as chief editor of ''
Communications in Mathematical Physics
''Communications in Mathematical Physics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer. The journal publishes papers in all fields of mathematical physics, but focuses particularly in analysis related to condensed matter physics, sta ...
'' in 1979 and served for 21 years until 2001. He is a distinguished visiting professor at th
Academy of Mathematics and Systems Scienceof the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...
.
Contributions
With
James Glimm
James Gilbert Glimm (born March 24, 1934) is an American mathematician, former president of the American Mathematical Society, and distinguished professor at Stony Brook University. He has made many contributions in the areas of pure and applie ...
, he founded the subject called
constructive quantum field theory
In mathematical physics, constructive quantum field theory is the field devoted to showing that quantum field theory can be defined in terms of precise mathematical structures. This demonstration requires new mathematics, in a sense analogous t ...
. They established existence theorems for two- and three-dimensional examples of non-linear, relativistic quantum fields.
Awards and honors
Awarded the
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics is an award given each year since 1959 jointly by the American Physical Society and American Institute of Physics. It is established by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Heineman. As of 2010 ...
in 1980. In 2012 he became a fellow of the
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...
.
List of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
retrieved 2013-01-26.
Personal life
Jaffe was married from 1971 to 1992 to Nora Frances Crow and they had one daughter, Margaret Collins, born in 1986. Jaffe was married to artist Sarah Robbins Warren from 1992 to 2002.
References
External links
Jaffe's website
Mathematical Picture Language Project at Harvard University
*
Dublin Institute for Advanced Study: Governing Boards
* (lecture by Arthur Jaffe, 18 May 2016, Trinity College Dublin)
*
*
List of Past AMS Presidents (Jaffe is the 54th.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffe, Arthur
20th-century American mathematicians
1937 births
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
21st-century American mathematicians
Quantum physicists
Harvard University faculty
Princeton University alumni
Marshall Scholars
Living people
Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Members of the Royal Irish Academy
Presidents of the American Mathematical Society
Fellows of the American Mathematical Society
Mathematical physicists
American physicists
Santa Fe Institute people
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Presidents of the International Association of Mathematical Physics
Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies