François, Baron Englert (; born 6 November 1932) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and 2013
Nobel prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
laureate.
Englert is professor emeritus at the
Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he is a member of the Service de Physique Théorique. He is also a Sackler Professor by Special Appointment in the School of Physics and Astronomy at
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
and a member of the Institute for Quantum Studies at
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Sci ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. He was awarded the 2010
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics (with
Gerry Guralnik,
C. R. Hagen,
Tom Kibble
Sir Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble (; 23 December 1932 – 2 June 2016) was a British theoretical physicist, senior research investigator at the Blackett Laboratory and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. His ...
,
Peter Higgs
Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...
, and
Robert Brout
Robert Brout (; June 14, 1928 – May 3, 2011) was an American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions in elementary particle physics. He was a professor of physics at Université Libre de Bruxelles where he had created, together ...
), the
Wolf Prize in Physics
The Wolf Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Wolf Foundation in Israel. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine and Arts ...
in 2004 (with Brout and Higgs) and the High Energy and Particle Prize of the
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
(with Brout and Higgs) in 1997 for the mechanism which unifies short and long range interactions by generating massive gauge vector bosons.
Englert has made contributions in
statistical physics,
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 ...
,
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
,
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 intera ...
and
supergravity. He is the recipient of the 2013
Prince of Asturias Award in technical and scientific research, together with Peter Higgs and the
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gen ...
.
Englert was awarded the 2013
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, together with
Peter Higgs
Peter Ware Higgs (born 29 May 1929) is a British theoretical physicist, Emeritus Professor in the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel Prize ...
for the discovery of the
Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism.
Early life
François Englert is a Holocaust survivor. He was born in a Belgian
Jewish family
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...
. During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, he had to conceal his
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
identity and live in orphanages and children's homes in the towns of
Dinant,
Lustin
Profondeville (; wa, Parfondveye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
On January 1, 2016, Profondeville had a total population of 12,117. The total area of the municipality is and the population density is ...
,
Stoumont
Stoumont () is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On January 1, 2006, Stoumont had a total population of 3,006. The total area is 108.45 km2 which gives a population density of 28 inhabitants per km2 ...
and, finally,
Annevoie-Rouillon. These towns were eventually liberated by the US Army.
Academic career
He graduated as an electromechanical engineer in 1955 from the
Free University of Brussels (ULB) where he received his PhD in physical sciences in 1959. From 1959 until 1961, he worked at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, first as a research associate of Robert Brout and then as assistant professor. He then returned to the ULB, where he became a university professor and was joined there by Robert Brout who, in 1980, with Englert coheaded the theoretical physics group. In 1998 Englert became professor emeritus. In 1984 Englert was first appointed as a Sackler Professor by Special Appointment in the School of Physics and Astronomy at
Tel-Aviv University. Englert joined Chapman University's Institute for Quantum Studies in 2011, where he serves as a distinguished visiting professor.
The Brout–Englert–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism
Brout and Englert showed in 1964 that gauge vector fields, abelian and non-abelian, could acquire mass if empty space were endowed with a particular type of structure that one encounters in material systems. Focusing on the failure of the Goldstone theorem for gauge fields, Higgs reached essentially the same result. A third paper on the subject was written later in the same year by
Gerald Guralnik
Gerald Stanford "Gerry" Guralnik (; September 17, 1936 – April 26, 2014) was the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. In 1964 he co-discovered the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble (GHK). As par ...
,
C. R. Hagen, and
Tom Kibble
Sir Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble (; 23 December 1932 – 2 June 2016) was a British theoretical physicist, senior research investigator at the Blackett Laboratory and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. His ...
. The three papers written on this boson discovery by Higgs, Englert and
Brout, and
Guralnik,
Hagen
Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (me ...
,
Kibble were each recognized as milestone papers for this discovery by
Physical Review Letters 50th anniversary celebration. While each of these famous papers took similar approaches, the contributions and differences between the
1964 PRL symmetry breaking papers
The 1964 ''PRL'' symmetry breaking papers were written by three teams who proposed related but different approaches to explain how mass could arise in local gauge theories. These three papers were written by: Robert Brout and François Englert; P ...
is noteworthy.
To illustrate the structure, consider a ferromagnet which is composed of atoms each equipped with a tiny magnet. When these magnets are lined up, the inside of the ferromagnet bears a strong analogy to the way empty space can be structured. Gauge vector fields that are sensitive to this structure of empty space can only propagate over a finite distance. Thus they mediate short range interactions and acquire mass. Those fields that are not sensitive to the structure propagate unhindered. They remain massless and are responsible for the long range interactions. In this way, the mechanism accommodates within a single unified theory both short and long-range interactions.
Brout and Englert, Higgs, and
Gerald Guralnik
Gerald Stanford "Gerry" Guralnik (; September 17, 1936 – April 26, 2014) was the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. In 1964 he co-discovered the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble (GHK). As par ...
,
C. R. Hagen, and
Tom Kibble
Sir Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble (; 23 December 1932 – 2 June 2016) was a British theoretical physicist, senior research investigator at the Blackett Laboratory and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. His ...
introduced as agent of the vacuum structure a scalar field (most often called the
Higgs field
The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the quantum excitation of the Higgs field,
one of the fields in particle physics theory. In the St ...
) which many physicists view as the agent responsible for the masses of fundamental particles. Brout and Englert also showed that the mechanism may remain valid if the scalar field is replaced by a more structured agent such as a fermion condensate. Their approach led them to conjecture that the theory is
renormalizable. The eventual proof of renormalizability, a major achievement of twentieth century physics, is due to
Gerardus 't Hooft and
Martinus Veltman who were awarded the 1999
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
for this work. The Brout–Englert–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism is the building stone of the
electroweak theory of elementary particles and laid the foundation of a unified view of the basic laws of nature.
Major awards
* 1978 First Prize in the International Gravity Contest (with R. Brout and E. Gunzig), awarded by the Gravity Research Foundation for the essay "The Causal Universe".
* 1982
Francqui Prize, awarded by the
Francqui Foundation
The Francqui Foundation was founded in 1932 by Emile Francqui and Herbert Hoover with the goal "to further the development of higher education and scientific research in Belgium". The foundation is a private foundation under the legal form of ...
once every four years in exact sciences "For his contribution to the theoretical understanding of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the physics of fundamental interactions, where, with Robert Brout, he was the first to show that spontaneous symmetry breaking in gauge theories gives mass to the gauge particles, for his extensive contributions in other domains, such as solid state physics, statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, general relativity and cosmology, for the originality and the fundamental importance of these achievements".
* 1997 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize (with R. Brout and P.W. Higgs), awarded by the
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
"For formulating for the first time a self-consistent theory of charged massive vector bosons which became the foundation of the electroweak theory of elementary particles".
* 2004 Wolf Prize in Physics (with R. Brout and P.W. Higgs), awarded by the
Wolf Foundation "For pioneering work that has led to the insight of mass generation, whenever a local gauge symmetry is realized asymmetrically in the world of sub-atomic particles".
* 2010
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics (with
Guralnik,
Hagen
Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (me ...
,
Kibble, Higgs, and
Brout) awarded by 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 ...
"For elucidation of the properties of spontaneous symmetry breaking in four-dimensional relativistic gauge theory and of the mechanism for the consistent generation of vector boson masses".
* By Royal Decree of 8 July 2013 François Englert was ennobled a baron by King
Albert II of Belgium.
* 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Peter Higgs "for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider".
* 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (with Peter Higgs and CERN) "for the theoretical prediction and experimental detection of the Higgs boson".
References
External links
*
François Englert's personal webpage*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englert, Francois
1932 births
Living people
People from Etterbeek
Holocaust survivors
Belgian Jews
Barons of Belgium
Belgian physicists
Belgian Nobel laureates
Jewish physicists
Particle physicists
Theoretical physicists
Cornell University faculty
Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni
Wolf Prize in Physics laureates
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients
Nobel laureates in Physics
Recipients of Princess of Asturias Awards