David B. Fairlie (born in South Queensferry, Scotland, 1935) is a British

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...

, Professor Emeritus at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

(UK). He was educated in mathematical physics at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

(BSc 1957), and he earned a PhD at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1960, under the supervision of John Polkinghorne. After postdoctoral training at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and Cambridge, he was lecturer in St. Andrews (1962–64) and at Durham University (1964), retiring as Professor (2000). He has made numerous influential contributions in

particle In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass. They vary greatly in size or quantity, from ...

and mathematical

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

, notably in the early formulation of string theory, as well as the determination of the

weak mixing angle The weak mixing angle or Weinberg angle is a parameter in the Steven Weinberg, Weinberg–Abdus Salam, Salam theory of the electroweak interaction, part of the Standard Model of particle physics, and is usually denoted as . It is the angle by wh ...

extra dimensions In physics, extra dimensions are proposed additional space or time dimensions beyond the (3 + 1) typical of observed spacetime, such as the first attempts based on the Kaluza–Klein theory. Among theories proposing extra dimensions are: ...

, infinite-dimensional Lie algebras, classical solutions of

gauge theories 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 ...

, higher-dimensional gauge theories, and deformation quantization. He has co-authored several volumes, notablyThomas L Curtright, David B Fairlie, Cosmas K Zachos, ''A Concise Treatise on Quantum Mechanics in Phase Space'', (World Scientific, Singapore, 2014) on

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...

in phase space.

References

1935 births Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British physicists Living people Mathematical physicists Theoretical physicists Academics of Durham University {{UK-physicist-stub