Cormac O'Raifeartaigh (Cormac O'Rafferty) is an Irish physicist based at

Waterford Institute of Technology The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Waterford, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engi ...

in Ireland. A solid-state physicist by training, he is best known for several contributions to the study of the history and philosophy of 20th century science, including the discovery that

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

once attempted a

steady-state model In cosmology, the steady-state model or steady-state theory was an alternative to the Big Bang theory. In the steady-state model, the density of matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged due to a continuous creation of matter, thus ...

of the expanding universe, many years before

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper, B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on oth ...

. O'Raifeartaigh is known to the public as the author of the science blo
Antimatter
and a monthly science column in

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

. As a science ambassador for Discover Science & Engineering Ireland, he is a frequent participant in scientific debates in the Irish media. O'Raifeartaigh graduated from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

in 1988 with a BSc Hons in experimental physics. A PhD in solid-state physics from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in 1994 was followed by Marie Curie Research Fellowships at

Aarhus University Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Ut ...

, Denmark and Trinity College Dublin. He currently lectures in physics at Waterford Institute of Technology and is a visiting associate professor at the School of Physics at University College Dublin. O'Raifeartaigh was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

in 2014 and a Fellow of the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

in 2016. He is a research associate at the School of Theoretical Physics of the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Vale ...

and was a research fellow at th
Science, Technology and Society Program
at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 2010–2011. Cormac is the youngest son of the late

Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh Lochlainn O'Raifeartaigh (; 11 March 1933 – 18 November 2000) was an Irish physicist in the field of theoretical particle physics. He is best known for O'Raifeartaigh's no-go theorem, the O'Raifeartaigh Theorem, a result in unification th ...

, an Irish theoretical particle physicist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ORaifeartaigh, Cormac Living people 20th-century Irish physicists 21st-century Irish physicists Alumni of University College Dublin Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Place of birth missing (living people) Academics of Waterford Institute of Technology