Roberto Daniele Peccei (; January 6, 1942 – June 1, 2020) was a theoretical particle physicist whose principal interests lay in the area of

electroweak In particle physics, the electroweak interaction or electroweak force is the unified description of two of the four known fundamental interactions of nature: electromagnetism and the weak interaction. Although these two forces appear very differe ...

interactions and in the interface between

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

and

physical cosmology Physical cosmology is a branch of cosmology concerned with the study of cosmological models. A cosmological model, or simply cosmology, provides a description of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the universe and allows study of f ...

. He was most known for formulating the

Peccei–Quinn theory In particle physics, the Peccei–Quinn theory is a well-known, long-standing proposal for the resolution of the strong CP problem formulated by Roberto Peccei and Helen Quinn in 1977. The theory introduces a new anomalous symmetry to the Stan ...

(with

Helen Quinn Helen Rhoda Arnold Quinn (born 19 May 1943) is an Australian-born particle physicist and educator who has made major contributions to both fields. Her contributions to theoretical physics include the Peccei–Quinn theory which implies a corres ...

), which attempts to resolve the strong CP problem in particle physics. Peccei was a Vice Chancellor for Research at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

between 2000 and 2010.

Early life and education

The son of

Aurelio Peccei Aurelio Peccei (; 4 July 1908 – 14 March 1984), was an Italian industrialist and philanthropist, best known as co-founder with Alexander King and first president of the Club of Rome, an organisation which attracted considerable public atten ...

(founder of the Club of Rome), Roberto Peccei was born in 1942 in

Torino, Italy Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He completed his secondary school in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1958 to pursue his university studies in physics. He obtained a B.S. from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

in 1962, and M.S. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(NYU) in 1964 and a Ph.D. from the

MIT Center for Theoretical Physics The MIT Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) is the hub of theoretical nuclear physics, particle physics, and quantum information research at MIT. It is a subdivision of MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science and Department of Physics. Research CT ...

in 1969.

Career

After a brief period of postdoctoral work at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, he joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1971, where (with

) he originated

, still the most famous proposed solution to the strong CP problem. In 1978, he returned to Europe as a staff member of the

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He joined the ''Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron'' ( DESY) Laboratory in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, as the Head of the Theoretical Group in 1984. He returned to the United States in 1989, joining the faculty of the Department of Physics at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. Soon thereafter, he became Chair of the Department, a position he held until becoming Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences of the College of Letters and Sciences in 1993. Until his death in June 2020, Peccei was on the Editorial Board of Nuclear Physics B Supplement, and the Journal of Physics G. He was a member of the Club of Rome, a Trustee of the

World Academy of Art and Science The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries. It serves as a forum for s ...

and President of the Fondazione Aurelio Peccei and he was a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In the last 15 years, he served on numerous advisory boards both in Europe and in the U.S. He chaired both the Scientific Advisory Board for the Laboratory for Nuclear Science 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 ...

and the Visiting Committee for the Laboratory of Nuclear Science at MIT. He also was a member of the Visiting Committee for the Department of Physics at MIT and was the Convener of the Vice Chancellor for Research Council in the University of California.

Honors and awards

* Fellow of the American Physical Society * Recipient of the American Physical Society’s 2013 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics

Publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peccei, Roberto 1942 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American physicists Cornell University people Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the Institute of Physics Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Italian physicists J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients MIT Center for Theoretical Physics alumni Particle physicists Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni New York University alumni University of California, Los Angeles faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty