Jakob Yngvason (born 23 November 1945) is an Icelandic/Austrian physicist and emeritus professor of

mathematical physics Mathematical physics is the development of mathematics, mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the de ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He has made important contributions to local quantum field theory,

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

, and the quantum theory of many-body systems, in particular cold atomic gases and Bose–Einstein condensation. He is co-author, together with Elliott H. Lieb, Jan Philip Solovej and Robert Seiringer, of a monograph on Bose gases.

Career

After graduating from high school in 1964 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Yngvason studied physics at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, obtaining his

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

in physics in 1969, and a doctorate (''dr.rer.nat'') in 1973. His thesis advisor was Hans-Jürgen Borchers. Yngvason was assistant professor at the University of Göttingen, 1973–1978, 1978–1985 research scientist at the Science Institute of the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

, and during 1985–1996 professor of theoretical physics at the University of Iceland. In 1996, he became professor of mathematical physics at the University of Vienna, where he has been emeritus professor since October 2014. He was president of the Erwin Schrödinger Institute for Mathematical Physics (ESI) in Vienna, 1998-2003, and scientific director of the institute 2004–2011. He was vice-president of the International Association of Mathematical Physics, 2000–2005, and editor-in-chief of ''Reviews in Mathematical Physics'', 2006-2010. He is a member of the Societas Scientiarum Islandica and corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen and the Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters, Copenhagen. For their theoretical work in thermodynamics, Yngvason and Lieb received the Levi Conant Prize of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

in 2002, for a paper on the mathematical explanation of the

second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on Universal (metaphysics), universal empirical observation concerning heat and Energy transformation, energy interconversions. A simple statement of the law is that heat always flows spont ...

.''2002 Conant Prize'', Notices of the AMS, 49, 481–482 (2002), https://www.ams.org/notices/200204/comm-conantprz.pdf In 2004,he received the

Erwin Schrödinger Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger ( ; ; 12 August 1887 – 4 January 1961), sometimes written as or , was an Austrian-Irish theoretical physicist who developed fundamental results in quantum field theory, quantum theory. In particul ...

Prize of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

Personal life

Yngvason is married to Guðrún Kvaran, professor of lexicography at the University of Iceland; they have two children.

References

External links

Home page
at Vienna University * https://web.archive.org/web/20120306040442/http://www.oeaw.ac.at/shared/news/2004/press_inf_20041011.html * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yngvason, Jakob 1945 births Living people Austrian physicists Academic staff of the University of Vienna Jakob Yngvason