Đàm Thanh Sơn (born 1969) is a Vietnamese

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 experi ...

working in

quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the study of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a type of ...

, applications of

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 many-body physics.

Early life and education

Born in

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

, Bac Ninh. Sơn attended HUS High School for Gifted Students, where he won gold medal in the International Mathematics Olympiad with an absolute score, and received his Ph.D. at the Institute for Nuclear Research in Moscow in 1995.

Career

Sơn was a postdoc at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

from 1995 to 1997, and the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics from 1997 to 1999. From 1999 to 2002 he was a professor at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and a RIKEN-BNL fellow. He moved to Seattle in 2002 when he became a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Nuclear Theory and a professor in the Physics Department,

. In 2012, he moved to Chicago to serve as a professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Honors

* Outstanding Junior Investigator in Nuclear Physics, DOE, 2000 * Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, 2001 *

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 ...

Fellow, 2006 * Simons Investigator Award, 2013 * Elected to

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 2014 * Elected to

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 2014 * Dirac Medal of the ICTP, 2018 Dirac Medal ICTP 2018
/ref> * Bogolyubov Prize, 2019

References

External links

Home page at the University of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dam, Thanh Son 1969 births People from Bắc Ninh province Theoretical physicists String theorists International Mathematical Olympiad participants Vietnamese academics Vietnamese physicists Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences University of Chicago faculty Simons Investigator MIT Center for Theoretical Physics people People educated at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi University of Science