Johann Rafelski (born 19 May 1950) is a German-American theoretical physicist. He is professor of Physics at The
University of Arizona in
Tucson, guest scientist at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
(
Geneva), and has been LMU-Excellent Guest Professor at the
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in
Munich, Germany.
Rafelski's current research interests center around investigation of the vacuum structure of
QCD
In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory 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 o ...
and
QED in the presence of strong fields; study of the QCD vacuum structure and deconfinement with strange particle production
in deconfined
quark–gluon plasma
Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) or quark soup is an interacting localized assembly of quarks and gluons at thermal (local kinetic) and (close to) chemical (abundance) equilibrium. The word ''plasma'' signals that free color charges are allowed. In a ...
formed in relativistic heavy ion collisions; the formation of matter out of quark–gluon plasma in the
hadronization process,
also in the
early Universe
The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology.
Research published in 2015 estimates the earliest stages of the universe's existence as taking place 13.8 billion years ago, with ...
; considering antimatter formation and annihilation. He has also contributed to the physics of table top muon-catalyzed fusion
and the ascent of ultrashort laser light pulses
as a new tool in this domain of physics. He contributed to understanding of neural nets and artificial intelligence
showing importance of neural plasticity and "sleep".
Career
Rafelski studied physics at
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...
in
Frankfurt,
Germany, where he received his
PhD in the spring of 1973 working with
Walter Greiner
Walter Greiner (29 October 1935 – 6 October 2016) was a German theoretical physicist. His research interests lay in atomic physics, heavy ion physics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics (particularly in quantum electrodynamics and quan ...
on strong fields and muonic atom tests of QED. In 1973 he began a series of
postdoctoral fellowship
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
s: first at the
University of Pennsylvania (
Philadelphia) with
Abraham Klein, then at the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facility is located in Lemont, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and is the larg ...
near
Chicago where he worked with
John W. Clark of
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University i ...
and Michael Danos
of National Bureau of Standards (now
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)). In spring 1977 Rafelski moved for a few months to work at the
GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research
The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (german: GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion () research center in the Wixhausen suburb of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1969 as th ...
in Germany, then continued on to a fellowship at CERN, where he worked with
Rolf Hagedorn
Rolf Hagedorn (20 July 1919 – 9 March 2003) was a German theoretical physicist who worked at CERN. He is known for the idea that hadronic matter has a " melting point". The Hagedorn temperature is named in his honor.
Early life
Hagedorn's yo ...
and
John S. Bell
John Stewart Bell FRS (28 July 1928 – 1 October 1990) was a physicist from Northern Ireland and the originator of Bell's theorem, an important theorem in quantum physics regarding hidden-variable theories.
In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Phy ...
; Rafelski remains associated with CERN to this day.
In the fall of 1979 Rafelski was appointed tenured associate professor at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University where he taught for 4 years, while collaborating closely with Hagedorn and with
Berndt Müller and
Gerhard Soff, whom Rafelski mentored in his PhD work. Rafelski then accepted the chair of Theoretical Physics at the
University of Cape Town (South Africa) where he created a Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics Institute before moving to The University of Arizona in the fall of 1987. During these years he was also a guest scientist at NIST in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
His interests in muon-catalyzed fusion and other table-top fusion methods led him to a collaboration led by
Steven E. Jones working at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The start-up of experimental work on quark–gluon plasma has led to another enduring collaboration with the
University of Paris 7-Jussieu involving Jean Letessier.
Rafelski has been instrumental to the study of
quark–gluon plasma
Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) or quark soup is an interacting localized assembly of quarks and gluons at thermal (local kinetic) and (close to) chemical (abundance) equilibrium. The word ''plasma'' signals that free color charges are allowed. In a ...
(QGP) advancing
strangeness production
In particle physics, strangeness ("''S''") is a property of particles, expressed as a quantum number, for describing decay of particles in strong and electromagnetic interactions which occur in a short period of time. The strangeness of a partic ...
as the pivotal QGP signature,
for which the first experimental evidence was announced by
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
in February 2000,
and now has become a new field of physics.
This work relates to his long-lasting studies of the structured quantum vacuum,
also known as
Lorentz Invariant Aether.
Melting Hadrons, Boiling Quarks
''
Melting Hadrons, Boiling Quarks'' is a scientific book series edited by Rafelski.
The first volume of 2016 published as
open-access under the
Creative Commons license
A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
4.0. is subtitled 'From Hagedorn Temperature to ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at CERN', and the volume in preparation was subtitled ‘
Quark–gluon plasma
Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) or quark soup is an interacting localized assembly of quarks and gluons at thermal (local kinetic) and (close to) chemical (abundance) equilibrium. The word ''plasma'' signals that free color charges are allowed. In a ...
discovery at CERN’. In the foreword of the first volume, former director-general of
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
,
Herwig Schopper
Herwig Franz Schopper (born 28 February 1924) is a Czech-born experimental physicist and was the director general of CERN from 1981 to 1988.
Biography
Schopper was born in Lanškroun, Bohemia, to a family of Austrian descent. He obtained his di ...
, states that the book fulfils two purposes which have been neglected for a long time.
Primarily a ''
festschrift'' (an 'honorary book'), it "...delivers the proper credit to physicist
Rolf Hagedorn
Rolf Hagedorn (20 July 1919 – 9 March 2003) was a German theoretical physicist who worked at CERN. He is known for the idea that hadronic matter has a " melting point". The Hagedorn temperature is named in his honor.
Early life
Hagedorn's yo ...
for his important role at the birth of a new research field"; and it describes how a development which he started just 50 years ago is "...closely connected to the most recent surprises in the new experimental domain of relativistic heavy ion physics...".
Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions
* Fellow of the
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 k ...
(2011)
* Foreign member of the
Academia Europaea
The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.
The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...
(2021)
* Honorary member of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2022)
Private life
Rafelski was born in Krakow, Poland, on May 19, 1950. In 1973 Rafelski married Helga Betz; their union produced two children. Dr. Helga Rafelski died of cancer in 2000. In 2003 Rafelski married the American novelist Victoria Grossack.
Bibliography
*2020: ''Spezielle Relativitätstheorie heute.''
*2016: ''Melting Hadrons, Boiling Quarks - From Hagedorn Temperature to Ultra-Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions at CERN''.
*2017: ''Relativity Matters: From Einstein's EMC2 to Laser Particle Acceleration and Quark–Gluon Plasma.''
*2002: ''Hadrons and Quark–Gluon Plasma.''
*1996: ''Die Struktur des Vakuums. Ein Dialog über das 'Nichts'.''
*1992: ''Spezielle Relativitätstheorie.''
*1985: ''Quantum Electrodynamics of Strong Fields.''
References
External links
Johann Rafelski's websiteScientific publications of Johann Rafelskion
INSPIRE-HEP
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafelski, Johann
21st-century American physicists
20th-century American physicists
People associated with CERN
20th-century German physicists
20th-century Polish physicists
Scientists from Kraków
University of Arizona faculty
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty
Goethe University Frankfurt alumni
Goethe University Frankfurt faculty
University of Cape Town academics
Paris Diderot University faculty
École Polytechnique faculty
Fellows of the American Physical Society
1950 births
Living people
Theoretical physicists
Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences