Bryce Seligman DeWitt (January 8, 1923 – September 23, 2004), was an American
theoretical physicist noted for his work in
gravitation
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stron ...
and
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 ...
.
Life
He was born Carl Bryce Seligman, but he and his three brothers, including the noted
ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...
Hugh Hamilton DeWitt, added "DeWitt" from their mother's side of the family, at the urging of their father, in 1950. In the early-1970s, this change of name so angered
Felix Bloch that he blocked DeWitt's appointment to
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and DeWitt and his wife
Cecile DeWitt-Morette, a mathematical physicist, accepted faculty positions at the
University of Texas at Austin.
DeWitt served in
World War II as a naval aviator. He died September 23, 2004 from
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
at the age of 81. He is buried in France, and was survived by his wife and four daughters.
Work
He pioneered work in the quantization of
general relativity and, in particular, developed
canonical quantum gravity, manifestly covariant methods, and heat kernel algorithms. DeWitt formulated the
Wheeler–DeWitt equation for the wave function of the universe with
John Archibald Wheeler and advanced the formulation of
Hugh Everett's
many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. With his student
Larry Smarr, he originated the field of
numerical relativity.
He received his bachelor's (summa cum laude), master's and doctoral degrees from
Harvard University. His Ph.D. (1950) supervisor was
Julian S. Schwinger
Julian Seymour Schwinger (; February 12, 1918 – July 16, 1994) was a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant ...
. Afterwards, he held a postdoctoral position at the
Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, NJ, worked at the
Lawrence Livermore Lab
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...
, and then held faculty positions at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, later, the
University of Texas at Austin. He was awarded the
Dirac Prize in 1987, the
Pomeranchuk Prize in 2002, and the American Physical Society's
Einstein Prize posthumously in 2005, and was a 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 ...
.
Books
* Bryce DeWitt, ''Dynamical theory of groups and fields'',
Gordon and Breach, New York, 1965
* Bryce DeWitt,
R. Neill Graham
R. or r. may refer to:
* '' Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler.
* '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King
* ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen
* or , abbrevi ...
, eds., ''The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics'', Princeton Series in Physics,
Princeton University Press (1973), .
* S. M. Christensen, ed., ''Quantum theory of gravity. Essays in honor of the 60th birthday of Bryce S. DeWitt'', Adam Hilger, Bristol, 1984.
* Bryce DeWitt, ''Supermanifolds'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985.
* Bryce DeWitt, ''The Global Approach to Quantum Field Theory'', The International Series of Monographs on Physics,
Oxford University Press, 2003, .
* Bryce DeWitt, ''Sopra un raggio di luce'', Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2005.
* Bryce DeWitt, ''Bryce DeWitt's Lectures on Gravitation'', Steven M. Christensen, ed., Springer, 2011.
References
Further reading
*
External links
University of Texas obituaryINSPIRE-HEP list of Dewitt's most famous papers International Centre for Theoretical Physics
Einstein Prize citation 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 ...
Oral history interview transcript with Bryce DeWitt and Cecile DeWitt-Morette on February 28 1995, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & ArchivesGaina Alex: The Quantum Gravity Simposim in Moscow, 1987Gaina Alex: ГОСТИННАЯ:ФОРУМ: Александр Александров *Сборник рассказов*:РЕПРЕССИРОВАННАЯ НАУКА (PURGED SCIENCE)
Steven Weinberg, "Bryce Seligman Dewitt", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewitt, Bryce
1923 births
2004 deaths
Harvard University alumni
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
20th-century American physicists
American relativity theorists
Fellows of the American Physical Society
University of Texas at Austin faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Jewish physicists
Deaths from cancer in Texas