Kenneth Geddes "Ken" Wilson (June 8, 1936 – June 15, 2013) was an American
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...
and a pioneer in leveraging computers for studying particle physics. He was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on
phase transition
In chemistry, thermodynamics, and other related fields, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states o ...
s—illuminating the subtle essence of phenomena like melting ice and emerging magnetism. It was embodied in his fundamental work on the
renormalization group
In theoretical physics, the term renormalization group (RG) refers to a formal apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different scales. In particle physics, it reflects the changes in the ...
.
Life
Wilson was born on June 8, 1936, in Waltham, Massachusetts, the oldest child of Emily Buckingham Wilson and
E. Bright Wilson, a prominent chemist at Harvard University, who did
important work on microwave emissions. His mother also trained as a physicist. He attended several schools, including
Magdalen College School, Oxford
Magdalen College School (MCS) is a public school (English independent day school) in Oxford, England, for boys aged seven to eighteen and for girls in the sixth form. It was founded by William Waynflete about 1480 as part of Magdalen College ...
, England,
ending up at the
George School
George School is a private Quaker (Society of Friends) boarding and day high school located on a rural campus in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania ( Newtown postal address). It was founded at its present site in 1893, and has grow ...
in eastern Pennsylvania.
He went on to
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
at age 16, majoring in Mathematics and, on two occasions, in 1954 and 1956, ranked among the top five in the
William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, often abbreviated to Putnam Competition, is an annual mathematics competition for undergraduate college students enrolled at institutions of higher learning in the United States and Canada (regar ...
.
He was also a star on the athletics track, representing Harvard in the Mile. During his summer holidays he worked at the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, acronym pronounced ) is a private, nonprofit research and higher education facility dedicated to the study of marine science and engineering.
Established in 1930 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, it ...
. He earned his
PhD from
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
in 1961, studying under
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...
. He did post-doc work at Harvard and CERN.
He joined
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
in 1963 in the Department of Physics as a junior faculty member, becoming a full professor in 1970. He also did research at
SLAC
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,
is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departme ...
during this period. In 1974, he became the James A. Weeks Professor of Physics at Cornell.
In 1982 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on
critical phenomena
In physics, critical phenomena is the collective name associated with the
physics of critical points. Most of them stem from the divergence of the
correlation length, but also the dynamics slows down. Critical phenomena include scaling relatio ...
using the
renormalization group
In theoretical physics, the term renormalization group (RG) refers to a formal apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different scales. In particle physics, it reflects the changes in the ...
.
He was a co-winner of the
Wolf Prize
The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for ''"achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of nati ...
in physics in 1980, together with
Michael E. Fisher and
Leo Kadanoff
Leo Philip Kadanoff (January 14, 1937 – October 26, 2015) was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics (emeritus from 2004) at the University of Chicago and a former President of the American Physical Society (APS). He contributed t ...
.
His other awards include the A.C. Eringen Medal, the Franklin Medal, the Boltzmann Medal, and the Dannie Heinemann Prize. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Science and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, both in 1975, and also was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1984.
In 1985, he was appointed as Cornell's Director of the Center for Theory and Simulation in Science and Engineering (now known as the
Cornell Theory Center
The Cornell University Center for Advanced Computing (CAC), housed at Frank H. T. Rhodes Hall on the campus of Cornell University, is one of five original centers in the National Science Foundation's Supercomputer Centers Program. It was formerl ...
), one of five national supercomputer centers created by the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...
. In 1988, Wilson joined the faculty at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. Wilson moved to Gray, Maine in 1995. He continued his association with Ohio State University until he retired in 2008. Prior to his death, he was actively involved in research on physics education and was an early proponent of "active involvement" (i.e. Science by Inquiry) of K-12 students in science and math.
Some of his PhD students include
H. R. Krishnamurthy,
Roman Jackiw
Roman Wladimir Jackiw (; born 8 November 1939) is a theoretical physicist and Dirac Medallist. Born in Lubliniec, Poland in 1939 to a Ukrainian family, the family later moved to Austria and Germany before settling in New York City when Jackiw w ...
,
Michael Peskin,
Serge Rudaz,
Paul Ginsparg
Paul Henry Ginsparg (born January 1, 1955) is a physicist. He developed the arXiv.org e-print archive.
Education
He is a graduate of Syosset High School in Syosset, New York. He graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in phy ...
, and
Steven R. White.
Wilson's brother David was also a professor at Cornell in the department of Molecular Biology and Genetics until his death, and his wife since 1982, Alison Brown, is a prominent computer scientist.
He died in Saco, Maine on June 15, 2013 at the age of 77.
He was respectfully remembered by his colleagues.
Work
Wilson's work in physics involved formulation of a comprehensive theory of scaling: how fundamental properties and forces of a system vary depending on the scale over which they are measured. He devised a universal "divide-and-conquer" strategy for calculating how phase transitions occur, by considering each scale separately and then abstracting the connection between contiguous ones, in a novel appreciation of
renormalization group
In theoretical physics, the term renormalization group (RG) refers to a formal apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different scales. In particle physics, it reflects the changes in the ...
theory. This provided profound insights into the field of critical phenomena and phase transitions in
statistical physics
Statistical physics is a branch of physics that evolved from a foundation of statistical mechanics, which uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approxim ...
enabling exact calculations. One example of an important problem in solid-state physics he solved using renormalization is in quantitatively describing the
Kondo effect.
He then extended these insights on scaling to answer fundamental questions on the nature of
quantum field theory and the
operator product expansion and the physical meaning of the renormalization group.
He also pioneered the understanding of
the confinement of quarks inside hadrons, utilizing
lattice gauge theory
In physics, lattice gauge theory is the study of gauge theories on a spacetime that has been discretized into a lattice.
Gauge theories are important in particle physics, and include the prevailing theories of elementary particles: quantum elec ...
,
and initiating an approach permitting formerly foreboding strong-coupling calculations on computers. On such a lattice, he further shed light on
chiral symmetry
A chiral phenomenon is one that is not identical to its mirror image (see the article on mathematical chirality). The spin of a particle may be used to define a handedness, or helicity, for that particle, which, in the case of a massless particle, ...
, a crucial feature of elementary particle interactions.
Awards and honors
*
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics is an award given each year since 1959 jointly by the American Physical Society and American Institute of Physics. It is established by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Heineman. As of 20 ...
, 1973
*
Boltzmann Medal
The Boltzmann Medal (or Boltzmann Award) is a prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann. The Boltzmann Medal is awarded once every three years ...
, 1975
*
Wolf Prize
The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for ''"achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of nati ...
, 1980
*
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, D.Sc (Hon.), 1981
*
Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
, Distinguished Alumni Award, 1981
*
Franklin Medal
The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the Am ...
, 1982
*
Nobel Prize for Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, 1982
*Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
, 1983
*
A. C. Eringen Medal, 1984
*
Aneesur Rahman Prize, 1993
*
American Physical Society Fellow, 1998
*
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
, Distinguished Anniversary Fellow, 1996
See also
*
Color confinement
In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), color confinement, often simply called confinement, is the phenomenon that color-charged particles (such as quarks and gluons) cannot be isolated, and therefore cannot be directly observed in normal conditions b ...
*
Lattice field theory
In physics, lattice field theory is the study of lattice models of quantum field theory, that is, of field theory on a space or spacetime that has been discretised onto a lattice.
Details
Although most lattice field theories are not exactly sol ...
*
Lattice QCD
Lattice QCD is a well-established non-perturbative approach to solving the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) theory of quarks and gluons. It is a lattice gauge theory formulated on a grid or lattice of points in space and time. When the size of the lat ...
*
Numerical renormalization group
The numerical renormalization group (NRG) is a technique devised by Kenneth Wilson to solve certain many-body problems where quantum impurity physics plays a key role.
History
The numerical renormalization group is an inherently non-perturbative ...
*
Quantum triviality
*
Renormalization
Renormalization is a collection of techniques in quantum field theory, the statistical mechanics of fields, and the theory of self-similar geometric structures, that are used to treat infinities arising in calculated quantities by altering va ...
*
Renormalization group
In theoretical physics, the term renormalization group (RG) refers to a formal apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different scales. In particle physics, it reflects the changes in the ...
*
Scaling law
In statistics, a power law is a functional relationship between two quantities, where a relative change in one quantity results in a proportional relative change in the other quantity, independent of the initial size of those quantities: one q ...
*
Wilson loop
In quantum field theory, Wilson loops are gauge invariant operators arising from the parallel transport of gauge variables around closed loops. They encode all gauge information of the theory, allowing for the construction of loop representat ...
Notes
External links
* including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1982 ''The Renormalization Group and Critical Phenomena''
Kenneth G. Wilsonon www.nobel-winners.com
*
Kenneth G. Wilson's brief CV, from Ohio State University (PDF file)Publicationson
ArXiv
arXiv (pronounced "archive"—the X represents the Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not peer review. It consists of ...
Interview with Ken Wilson in 2002*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Kenneth G.
1936 births
2013 deaths
Nobel laureates in Physics
American Nobel laureates
Putnam Fellows
California Institute of Technology alumni
Harvard College alumni
Cornell University faculty
Ohio State University faculty
American physicists
Wolf Prize in Physics laureates
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Theoretical physicists
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
People associated with CERN
Computational physicists
George School alumni