Marc, Baron Henneaux is a Belgian theoretical physicist and professor at the Universite libre de Bruxelles (ULB) who was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 5 March 1955.

Education and career

Henneaux studied physics at ULB and received his doctoral degree in 1980 under the supervision of

Jules Géhéniau Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). In the anglosphere, it is also used for females although it is still a predominantly masculine name.One of the few notable examples of a femal ...

. He was a visiting fellow at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

for the academic year 1978-1979 where a long-term collaboration with

Claudio Bunster Claudio Bunster Weitzman (; born April 15, 1947) is a Chilean theoretical physicist. Until 2005 his name was Claudio Teitelboim Weitzman. Biography Until 2005 Bunster thought he was the biological son of Volodia Teitelboim, when he learned that ...

was initiated. He was then postdoctoral research associate and lecturer at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

from 1981 to 1984, to continue working with

. From there, he held a research position at the Belgian Science foundation ( FNRS) until 1992, after which he was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Brussels (1993-1996). He is currently Full Professor at the University of Brussels since October 1996. He also serves as Director of the International Solvay Institutes for Physics and Chemistry, founded by

Ernest Solvay Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (; 16 April 1838 – 26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist. Biography Born in Rebecq, he was prevented by his acute pleurisy from going to university. He worked in his uncle's c ...

since January 2004. In 2017, Henneaux was appointed Professor at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

where he holds the Chair "Champs, Cordes et Gravité".

Research

The research of Henneaux is devoted to the study of the theoretical models describing the fundamental physical interactions (

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

weak Weak may refer to: Songs * Weak (AJR song), "Weak" (AJR song), 2016 * Weak (Melanie C song), "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011 * Weak (SWV song), "Weak" (SWV song), 1993 * Weak (Skunk Anansie song), "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995 * "Weak", a son ...

and

strong Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United ...

nuclear forces,

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

), with a particular emphasis on their

symmetries Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations ...

. With J. David Brown, he showed that Einstein's theory of gravity in three spacetime dimensions with a negative

cosmological constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general rel ...

possesses a remarkable symmetry structure at infinity described by two

Virasoro algebra In mathematics, the Virasoro algebra is a complex Lie algebra and the unique nontrivial central extension of the Witt algebra. It is widely used in two-dimensional conformal field theory and in string theory. It is named after Miguel Ángel ...

s. The corresponding central charge bears the name of "Brown–Henneaux central charge". This work is sometimes regarded as one of the precursors of the celebrated

AdS/CFT correspondence In theoretical physics, the anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence (frequently abbreviated as AdS/CFT) is a conjectured relationship between two kinds of physical theories. On one side are anti-de Sitter spaces (AdS) that are used ...

. Henneaux also studied the geometrical and algebraic aspects of theories with a

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

freedom, and in particular on the so-called Becchi–Rouet–Stora–Tyutin symmetry and its

cohomology In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewed ...

. More recently, in collaboration with

Thibault Damour Thibault Damour (; born 7 February 1951) is a French physicist. He was a permanent professor in theoretical physics at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS) from 1989 to 2022. Since then, he is professor emeritus. An expert in g ...

, he showed that hyperbolic

Coxeter groups In mathematics, a Coxeter group, named after H. S. M. Coxeter, is an abstract group that admits a formal description in terms of reflections (or kaleidoscopic mirrors). Indeed, the finite Coxeter groups are precisely the finite Euclidean refl ...

appear somewhat unexpectedly in gravitational theories and their supersymmetric extensions, in the BKL behaviour of the fields near a spacelike singularity.

Main prizes and awards

* Louis Empain Prize (Belgium) – 1989. *

Francqui Prize The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize named after Émile Francqui. Normally annually since 1933, the Francqui Foundation awards it in recognition of the achievements of a scholar or scientist, who at the star ...

– 2000 (Belgium) – "for his exceptional contributions to our understanding of the forces of Nature", in particular for having "anticipated by more than ten years … a crucial step for understanding the challenge raised by the incorporation of Einstein general relativity in quantum mechanics." (citation of the Jury) *

Humboldt Research Award The Humboldt Research Award (), also known informally as the Humboldt Prize, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany to internationally renowned scientists and scholars who work outside of Germany in recognition of t ...

(Germany – 2009). * ERC Advanced Grant (2011–2015) * 2014 Bogoliubov Prize of the "Joint Institute for Nuclear Research" (Dubna, Russia), with Valery Rubakov, "for outstanding achievements in theoretical and mathematical physics, promoting international cooperation, and educating young scientists" * FNRS Quinquennal Prize "Dr A. De Leeuw-Damry-Bourlart" (Fundamental Exact Sciences) (Belgium) for the period 2011-2015 * ERC Advanced Grant (2016–2021).

Other distinctions

* Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium – Since May 2002. * Francqui Chair –

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

– Academic Year 2002–2003. * Andrejewski Chair – Universities of Leipzig and Jena – May 2003. * Honorary Degree (Doctor Honoris Causa) –

University of Craiova The University of Craiova () is a public university located in Craiova, Romania. It was founded in 1947, initially with four institutes, in the Palace of Justice of Craiova. It is the largest university in the historical Oltenia province of Roma ...

(Romania) – 2010 * Created "Baron" in 2015 by

Philippe, King of the Belgians Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 19 ...

Bibliography

* C. Teitelboim, M. Henneaux, Quantization of gauge systems, Princeton University Press, 1992.

References

*J. D. Brown & M. Henneaux (1986), "Central charges in the canonical realization of asymptotic symmetries: an example from three-dimensional gravity", Communications in Mathematical Physics 104 (2): 207–226. . . *M. Henneaux & C. Teitelboim, "Quantization of gauge systems", Princeton University Press, 1992. *F. Brandt, G. Barnich & M. Henneaux (2000), "Local BRST cohomology in gauge theories"], Physics Reports 338 (5): 439–569. , , , , *T. Damour & M. Henneaux (2001), "E(10), BE(10) and arithmetical chaos in superstring cosmology", Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 : 4749-4752. ,

External links

Web page at the Solvay InstitutesUniversité Libre de Bruxelles

International Solvay Institutes

Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FRS-FNRS)

FNRS Quinquennal Prizes

Francqui Foundation

Académie Royale de Belgique

ERC Advanced Grants
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henneaux, Marc Academic staff of the Université libre de Bruxelles Belgian physicists Université libre de Bruxelles alumni Living people 1955 births