Gerhart Lüders (25 February 1920 – 31 January 1995) was a German theoretical physicist who worked 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 ...

and was well known for the discovery and a general proof of the

CPT theorem Charge, parity, and time reversal symmetry is a fundamental symmetry of physical laws under the simultaneous transformations of charge conjugation (C), parity transformation (P), and time reversal (T). CPT is the only combination of C, P, and ...

. This theorem is also called the ''Pauli-Lüders theorem'' and is one of the most fundamental rules of

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

Life and works

Lüders was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. He received his physics doctorate in 1950 at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

and his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

degree in 1954 at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. In the same year, he proved the

in the particular form that for a relativistic quantum field theory the validity of parity invariance necessarily implies the validity of CT invariance. (

Wolfgang Pauli Wolfgang Ernst Pauli ( ; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and a pioneer of quantum mechanics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the ...

, who like John Bell formulated this theorem independently of Lüders, gave a little later a more general proof.) With

Bruno Zumino Bruno Zumino (28 April 1923 − 21 June 2014) was an Italian theoretical physicist and faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. He obtained his DSc degree from the University of Rome in 1945. He was renowned for his rigorous pro ...

, Lüders in 1958 gave a rigorous proof of the so-called

spin–statistics theorem The spin–statistics theorem proves that the observed relationship between the intrinsic spin of a particle (angular momentum not due to the orbital motion) and the quantum particle statistics of collections of such particles is a consequence of ...

and once again a proof of the CPT theorem, this time from general field theoretical axioms of the relativistic quantum field theory. Lüders also mathematically investigated the quantum mechanical measurement process, a work that came to be known as the Lüders rule, and worked on

superconductivity Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where Electrical resistance and conductance, electrical resistance vanishes and Magnetic field, magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ord ...

.''The method of the correlation function in superconductivity''. Springer 1971 He was from 1957 to 1960 group leader at the

Max Planck Institut The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

for physics in Munich (he remained an affiliated member of the institute from 1961) and from 1960 to his retirement in 1982 professor in Göttingen. He received in 1959 the physics prize of the

Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen A German Akademie is a school or college, trade school or another educational institution. The word Akademie (unlike the words Gymnasium or Universität) is not protected by law, and any school or college may choose to call itself Akademie. A Som ...

and in 1966 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 ...

. Since 1962 he was a member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen.

References

20th-century German physicists German theoretical physicists 1920 births 1995 deaths Winners of the Max Planck Medal University of Hamburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen {{Germany-physicist-stub

Life and works

See also

References