Eyvind Hugo Wichmann (May 30, 1928 – February 16, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist.

Life

Wichmann studied in Finland (Institute of Technology, Helsinki, diploma 1950) and finished his master studies 1953 at the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, following that with his PhD 1956. From 1955 to 1957 he was at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

. In 1957 he became assistant professor and 1967 professor for physics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Emeritus since 1993. His research covers

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 ...

and

quantum electrodynamics In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and spec ...

(both concrete problems of particle physics as well as

axiomatic quantum field theory Axiomatic quantum field theory is a mathematical discipline which aims to describe quantum field theory in terms of rigorous axioms. It is strongly associated with functional analysis and operator algebras, but has also been studied in recent years ...

, in which he, in 1975, made the connection to the

Tomita–Takesaki theory In the theory of von Neumann algebras, a part of the mathematical field of functional analysis, Tomita–Takesaki theory is a method for constructing modular automorphisms of von Neumann algebras from the polar decomposition of a certain involution ...

). He is well known as the author of the book on quantum physics in the ''

Berkeley Physics Course The Berkeley Physics Course is a series of college-level physics textbooks written mostly (but not exclusively) by UC Berkeley professors. Description The series consists of the following five volumes, each of which was originally used in a one-s ...

''. He was a member of the

Finnish Academy of Science and Letters The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

and a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. From 1961 to 1963 he was a

Sloan Research Fellow The Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation since 1955 to "provide support and recognition to early-career scientists and scholars". This program is one of the oldest of its kind in the United States. ...

Publications

*''Quantum Physics''.

, volume 4, McGraw Hill, 1971. *

References

External links

* Bert Schroer: ''Modular Theory and Eyvind Wichmann's Contributions to modern Particle Physics Theory.'' 1999
Arxiv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wichmann, Eyvind 1928 births 2019 deaths Quantum physicists University of California, Berkeley faculty American textbook writers Sloan Research Fellows Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American physicists