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was a Japanese-American
particle physicist 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 ...
and theorist. While a graduate student at Cornell University, Sakurai independently discovered the V-A theory of weak interactions. He authored the popular graduate text ''
Modern Quantum Mechanics ''Modern Quantum Mechanics'', often called ''Sakurai'' or ''Sakurai and Napolitano'', is a standard graduate-level quantum mechanics textbook written originally by J. J. Sakurai and edited by San Fu Tuan in 1985, with later editions coauthored ...
'' (1985, published posthumously) and other texts such as ''Invariance Principles and Elementary Particles'' (1964) and ''Advanced Quantum Mechanics'' (1967).


Life and career

J. J. Sakurai was born in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in 1933 and moved to the United States when he was a high school student. He studied Physics at Harvard and Cornell, where he proposed his theory of weak interactions. After receiving his PhD from Cornell in 1958 he joined the faculty at University of Chicago, becoming a full professor in 1964.J. J. Sakurai, San Fu Tuan. ''Modern Quantum Mechanics'': Revised Edition. Pearson Education, 1994. pg. vii In 1970, Sakurai moved to the University of California, Los Angeles. As a graduate student, he proposed the V−A theory of weak interactions, independently of
Robert Marshak Robert Eugene Marshak (October 11, 1916 – December 23, 1992) was an American physicist, educator, and eighth president of the City College of New York. Biography Marshak was born in the Bronx, New York City. His parents, Harry and Rose Marshak ...
,
George Sudarshan Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan (also known as E. C. G. Sudarshan; 16 September 1931 – 13 May 2018) was an Indian American theoretical physicist and a professor at the University of Texas. Sudarshan has been credited with numerous contrib ...
,
Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
, and
Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...
. In 1960, he published a paper on the theory of strong interactions based on Abelian and non-Abelian ( Yang-Mills) gauge invariance. In that paper, he also pioneered the vector meson dominance model of hadron dynamics. Sakurai died from an
aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...
in 1982 during a visit to CERN.


Textbooks

In addition to his published papers, Sakurai authored several textbooks. These include ''Invariance Principles and Elementary Particles'' (1964), ''Advanced Quantum Mechanics'' (1967), and ''Modern Quantum Mechanics''. The third volume was left unfinished due to Sakurai's sudden death in 1982, but was later edited and completed with the help of his wife, Noriko Sakurai, and colleague San Fu Tuan. ''Modern Quantum Mechanics'' is probably his most well known book and is still widely used for graduate studies today.


Sakurai Prize

In 1984 the family and friends of J. J. Sakurai endowed a prize for theoretical physicists in his honor. The goal of the prize as stated on the APS website is to encourage outstanding work in the field of particle theory. Recipients receive a $10,000 grant, an allowance for travel to the ceremony, and a certificate citing their contributions to particle physics.


See also

*
Sakurai Prize The J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, is presented by the American Physical Society at its annual April Meeting, and honors outstanding achievement in particle physics theory. The prize consists of a monetary award ($10,000 U ...


References


Further reading

* Sakurai, J. J, and Jim Napolitano. ''Modern Quantum Mechanics''. 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2017. . * Townsend, John S. ''A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics''. 2nd ed., University Science Books, 2012. .


External links


University of California: In Memoriam, 1985Scientific publications of J. J. Sakurai
on
INSPIRE-HEP INSPIRE-HEP is an open access digital library for the field of high energy physics (HEP). It is the successor of the Stanford Physics Information Retrieval System (SPIRES) database, the main literature database for high energy physics since the 1970 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakurai, J.J. 1933 births 1982 deaths Harvard University alumni Cornell University alumni University of Chicago faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty 20th-century American physicists Particle physicists American academics of Japanese descent People from Tokyo Japanese emigrants to the United States People associated with CERN The Bronx High School of Science alumni Scientists from New York (state)