(September 20, 1924 – March 24, 1995) was a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and

Distinguished Professor Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs. In the United States Often specific to one institution, titles such ...

in the Department of Physics at the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscon ...

Memorial resolution: Professor Hiroomi Umezawa
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Document no. 2007, September 21, 1995 (downloaded October 21, 2012) and later at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

. He is known for his fundamental contributions to quantum field theory and for his work on quantum phenomena in relation to the mind.

Education, career and work

Umezawa obtained his PhD from Nagoya University, Japan in 1952. He worked at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project b ...

, Japan, and the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and took up a position as professor at the

(UWM) in 1966, already considered a famous physicist at the time. He joined the

, Canada, in 1975 when he took the Killam Memorial Chair as Professor of Physics, a position which he held until his retirement in 1992. Umezawa is recognized as one of the eminent quantum field theorists of his generation. He applied his results in quantum field theory also to

high energy physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standa ...

, condensed matter physics,

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and

statistical physics Statistical physics is a branch of physics that evolved from a foundation of statistical mechanics, which uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approxim ...

, as well as his considerations of quantum theory and the mind. In 1967, together with L.M. Ricciardi, he proposed a quantum theory of the brain which posits a spatially distributed charge formation exhibiting spontaneous breakdowns at micro levels as the basis for processing at macro levels. In this model, the information resides in the virtual field associated with the dynamics of the cellular matter. This model was subsequently expanded by Stuart, Takahashi and Umezawa with their proposal of the development of long range correlations among neurons due to the interaction of two quantum fields. The approach was built upon by many others, including Karl H. Pribram, and was later expanded by Giuseppe Vitiello to a

dissipative In thermodynamics, dissipation is the result of an irreversible process that takes place in homogeneous thermodynamic systems. In a dissipative process, energy ( internal, bulk flow kinetic, or system potential) transforms from an initial form to ...

quantum model of brain. Umezawa's scientific work has been characterized by his colleagues at UWM as "marked by extreme originality".

Memorial fund

After his death in 1995, Umezawa's family, friends and students set up the ''Umezawa Fund'' at the

in his memory, dedicated to support studies in physics; among the ''Memorial Distinguished Visitors'' has been physicist

Gordon Baym Gordon Alan Baym (born July 1, 1935) is an American theoretical physicist. Biography Born in New York City, he graduated from the Brooklyn Technical High School, and received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1956. He earned hi ...

of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

in 2007.Annual Report of the University of Physics Institute, University of Alberta, for the period of July 1, 2006 - December 31, 2008, published March 2010
page 13
(downloaded October 21, 2012)

Publications

;Books on quantum theory: * H Umezawa; A Arimitsu, et al. (eds.):
Selected papers of Hiroomi Umezawa
', Tokyo, Japan (Published by Editorial Committee for Selected Papers of Hiroomi Umezawa), 2001 * Hiroomi Umezawa: ''Advanced Field Theory: Micro, Macro, and Thermal Physics'', American Institute of Physics, 1993, * Hiroomi Umezawa, Giuseppe Vitiello: ''Quantum Mechanics'', Bibliopolis, 1985 * Hiroomi Umezawa, H. Matsumoto, Masashi Tachiki: ''Thermo field dynamics and condensed states'', North-Holland Publishing Company, 1982, * Hiroomi Umezawa: ''Quantum Field Theory'', North-Holland Publishing Co., 1956 Articles on the quantum theory of mind: * C.I.J. Stuart, Y. Takahashi, H. Umezawa (1979): Mixed system brain dynamics: neural memory as a macroscopic ordered state, Foundations of Physics, vol. 9, pp. 301–307 * C.I.J. Stuart, Y. Takahashi, H. Umezawa (1978): On the stability and non-local properties of memory, Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 31, pp. 605–618 * L.M. Ricciardi, U. Umezawa (1967): Brain physics and many-body problems, Kibernetik, vol. 4, pp. 44–48

References

External links

Hiroomi Umezawa
at the

Mathematics Genealogy Project The Mathematics Genealogy Project (MGP) is a web-based database for the academic genealogy of mathematicians.. By 31 December 2021, it contained information on 274,575 mathematical scientists who contributed to research-level mathematics. For a ty ...

Hiroomi Umezawa
article search at the Falvey Memorial Library,

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umezawa, Hiroomi 1924 births 1995 deaths Nagoya University alumni University of Alberta faculty University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee faculty Theoretical physicists 20th-century Japanese physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society

Education, career and work

Memorial fund

Publications

References

Further reading

External links