Krzysztof Antoni Meissner (born 1 September 1961 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) is a Polish

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 experimen ...

, specializing in

elementary particles In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. Particles currently thought to be elementary include electrons, the fundamental fermions (quarks, leptons, antiqu ...

theory, and a professor of

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 ...

at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields of ...

, Faculty of Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics.

Career

In his youth, Meissner was twice a laureate of the Polish Physics Olympiad and twice a finalist of Polish Chemistry Olimpiad. He started studying physics at University of Warsaw, Faculty of Physics, in 1980, obtained his Master's degree in 1985 and was immediately employed as an assistant in Institute of Theoretical Physics, Department of Elementary Particles and Forces Theory. He continued his scientific work, defending his PhD thesis in 1989, habilitating in 1997 with a dissertation titled ''The Role of Symmetry of Noncritical Strings Theory in String Cosmology'' (''Rola Symetrii Teorii Strun Niekrytycznych w Kosmologii Strunowej'') and becoming a professor in 2006. He is a long-term collaborator of Sir

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...

. He became the scientific director of the Institute of Nuclear Research in 2009, and after its transformation into National Centre of Nuclear Research, he continues to work there, although no longer as a scientific director.

Publications

He has authored or co-authored over 70 papers published in science journals, amongst them

Physical Review Letters ''Physical Review Letters'' (''PRL''), established in 1958, is a peer-reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society. As also confirmed by various measurement standards, which include the ''Journa ...

Physical Review D Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

Classical and Quantum Gravity ''Classical and Quantum Gravity'' is a peer-reviewed journal that covers all aspects of gravitational physics and the theory of spacetime. Its scope includes: *Classical general relativity *Applications of relativity *Experimental gravitation ...

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 ...

Physics Letters B 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 relat ...

Other work and achievements

Krzysztof Meissner is openly religious, saying "Physicists, a theist and an atheist, use the same equations describing the same phenomenon and arrive at the same conclusions. The difference is, one of them will say that it is a reflection of the perfect God, while the other will simply consider it the way things are." He is also working to popularize science and physics in Poland, giving many public speeches in schools and public events. In 2013, he was awarded the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

President of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised ...

for ''outstanding contribution to research in the field of physics and to popularization of science''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Krzystof Antoni 1961 births Living people Polish relativity theorists String theorists Academic staff of the University of Warsaw University of Warsaw alumni 21st-century Polish physicists