Joël Scherk (; 27 May 1946 – 16 May 1980) was a
French theoretical
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
who studied
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
supergravity
In theoretical physics, supergravity (supergravity theory; SUGRA for short) is a modern field theory that combines the principles of supersymmetry and general relativity; this is in contrast to non-gravitational supersymmetric theories such as ...
.
Work
Scherk studied in Paris at the
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
(ENS). In 1969 he received his diploma (Thèse de troisième cycle) at
University of Paris XI in Orsay with and
Claude Bouchiat and in 1971 he completed his doctorate (
Doctorat d'État) at the same time as his colleague
André Neveu.
In 1974, together with
John H. Schwarz, Scherk realised that string theory was a theory of
quantum gravity
Quantum gravity (QG) is a field of theoretical physics that seeks to describe gravity according to the principles of quantum mechanics. It deals with environments in which neither gravitational nor quantum effects can be ignored, such as in the v ...
. In 1978, together with
Eugène Cremmer and
Bernard Julia, Scherk constructed the
Lagrangian and
supersymmetry
Supersymmetry is a Theory, theoretical framework in physics that suggests the existence of a symmetry between Particle physics, particles with integer Spin (physics), spin (''bosons'') and particles with half-integer spin (''fermions''). It propo ...
transformations for
eleven-dimensional supergravity, which is one of the foundations of
M-theory
In physics, M-theory is a theory that unifies all Consistency, consistent versions of superstring theory. Edward Witten first conjectured the existence of such a theory at a string theory conference at the University of Southern California in 1 ...
.
He died unexpectedly, and in tragic circumstances, months after the supergravity workshop at the
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...
that was held on 27–29 September 1979. The workshop proceedings were dedicated to his memory, with a statement that Scherk, a
diabetic
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
, had been trapped somewhere without his
insulin
Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the insulin (''INS)'' gene. It is the main Anabolism, anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabol ...
and went into a
diabetic coma
Diabetic coma is a life-threatening but reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus.
Three different types of diabetic coma are identified:
#Severe diabetic hypoglycemia, low blood sugar in a diabetic person
#Diabetic ketoac ...
. Two decades later, in his 2001 book ''Euclid's Window'', author and theoretical physicist
Leonard Mlodinow credited Schwarz and Scherk for their "astounding discovery" that gravity was part of string theory in a way that would "avoid contradictions between general relativity and quantum mechanics", but noted that Scherk suffered a
breakdown, his wife left with their children, and he later committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
.
The high-energy theory library of the Laboratoire de Physique Théorique at
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
(
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) is dedicated in his honor. A
conference
A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, on 16–20 October 2006, celebrating 30 years of supergravity,
"30 Years of Supergravity"
/ref> was dedicated to Scherk.
See also
* GSO projection
References
1946 births
1980 deaths
French string theorists
1980 suicides
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