Jürg Martin Fröhlich (born 4 July 1946 in Schaffhausen) is a Swiss mathematician and theoretical physicist. He is best known for introducing rigorous techniques for the analysis of statistical mechanics models, in particular continuous symmetry breaking (infrared bounds), and for pioneering the study of topological phases of matter using low-energy effective field theories.

Biography

In 1965 Fröhlich began to study mathematics and physics at Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule Zürich. In 1969, under

Klaus Hepp Klaus Hepp (born 11 December 1936) is a German-born Swiss theoretical physicist working mainly in quantum field theory. Hepp studied mathematics and physics at Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and at the Eidgenössischen Technis ...

and Robert Schrader, he attained the

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...

(“Dressing Transformations in Quantum Field Theory”), and in 1972 he earned a PhD from the same institution under Klaus Hepp. After postdoctoral visits to the University of Geneva and Harvard University (with Arthur Jaffe), he took an assistant professorship in 1974 in the mathematics department of Princeton University. From 1978 until 1982 he was a professor at Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette in Paris, and since 1982 he has been a professor for theoretical physics at ETH, where he founded the Center for Theoretical Studies. Over the course of his career, Fröhlich has worked on

quantum field theory In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...

(including axiomatic quantum field theory, conformal field theory, and

topological quantum field theory In gauge theory and mathematical physics, a topological quantum field theory (or topological field theory or TQFT) is a quantum field theory which computes topological invariants. Although TQFTs were invented by physicists, they are also of mathem ...

), on the precise mathematical treatment of models of

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...

, on theories of phase transition, on the fractional quantum Hall effect, and on

non-commutative geometry Noncommutative geometry (NCG) is a branch of mathematics concerned with a geometric approach to noncommutative algebras, and with the construction of ''spaces'' that are locally presented by noncommutative algebras of functions (possibly in some ge ...

Honors and awards

In 1991 he received with Thomas Spencer the Dannie Heineman prize, in 1997 he received the Marcel Benoist Prize, in 2001 he won the Max Planck Medal of the Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft, and in 2009 he was awarded the

Henri Poincaré Prize The Henri Poincaré Prize is awarded every three years since 1997 for exceptional achievements in mathematical physics and foundational contributions leading to new developments in the field. The prize is sponsored by the Daniel Iagolnitzer Foundat ...

. He is a member of the Academia Europaea and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In 2012 he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society. In 1978, Fröhlich gave an invited address to the

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the Nevanlinna Prize (to be rename ...

in Helsinki (“On the mathematics of phase transitions”) and in 1994 at the plenary talk of the ICM in Zurich (“The FQHE,

Chern–Simons Theory The Chern–Simons theory is a 3-dimensional topological quantum field theory of Schwarz type developed by Edward Witten. It was discovered first by mathematical physicist Albert Schwarz. It is named after mathematicians Shiing-Shen Chern and Jam ...

and Integral Lattices”). He also co-authored a book on

quantum triviality In a quantum field theory, charge screening can restrict the value of the observable "renormalized" charge of a classical theory. If the only resulting value of the renormalized charge is zero, the theory is said to be "trivial" or noninteracting. ...

. In 2020, he was elected international member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...

Selected works

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References

External links

* . * . * . * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frohlich, Jurg Swiss physicists 1946 births Living people Members of Academia Europaea Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Theoretical physicists ETH Zurich alumni ETH Zurich faculty People from Schaffhausen Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Winners of the Max Planck Medal Swiss mathematicians

Biography

Honors and awards

Selected works

See also

References

External links