Klaus Hepp (born 11 December 1936) is a German-born Swiss theoretical physicist working mainly in
quantum field theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines Field theory (physics), field theory and the principle of relativity with ideas behind quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct phy ...
. Hepp studied mathematics and physics at
Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität in
Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
and at the Eidgenössischen Technischen Hochschule (
ETH) in
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, where, in 1962, with
Res Jost as thesis first advisor and
Markus Fierz as thesis second advisor, he received a doctorate for the thesis ("Kovariante analytische Funktionen“) and at ETH in 1963 attained the rank of
Privatdozent. From 1966 until his retirement in 2002 he was professor of theoretical physics there. From 1964 to 1966 he was at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...
in
Princeton. Hepp was also Loeb Lecturer at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
and was at the
IHÉS near
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 ...
.
Hepp worked on relativistic quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics, and theoretical laser physics. In quantum field theory he gave a complete proof of the
Bogoliubov–Parasyuk renormalization theorem (Hepp and
Wolfhart Zimmermann, called in their honor the BPHZ theorem).
Since a research stay 1975/6 at
MIT he also worked in neuroscience (for example, reciprocal effect between movement sensors, visual sense and eye movements with V. Henn in Zurich).
In 2004 he received the
Max Planck Medal
The Max Planck Medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions ...
.
Selected works
*“Renormalisaton Theory“, in de Witt, Stora „Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory“, Gordon and Breach, New York 1971
*“Progress in Quantum Field Theory“, Erice Lectures 1972
*“Theorie de la Renormalisation“, Springer 1970
*“On the quantum mechanical N-body problem“, Helvetica physica Acta, Bd.42, 1969, S.425
*“On the connection between Wightman and LSZ quantum field theory“, in Chretien, Deser „Axiomatic Quantum Field Theory“, New York 1966
"Quantum mechanics in the brain"(with
Christof Koch) in ''Nature'' 440(611), 2006
See also
*
Dicke model
*
Gell-Mann and Low theorem
*
Mean-field particle methods
*
Orchestrated objective reduction
*
Superradiant phase transition
*
Wightman axioms
References
External links
*
Hepp Biographie an der ETH
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepp, Klaus
1936 births
Living people
Mathematical physicists
Swiss physicists
Swiss theoretical physicists
Academic staff of ETH Zurich
Winners of the Max Planck Medal
ETH Zurich alumni