Markus Eduard Fierz (20 June 1912 – 20 June 2006) was a Swiss physicist, particularly remembered for his formulation of

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 for his contributions to the development of

quantum theory Quantum theory may refer to: Science *Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics *Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics * Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes: ** Quantum electrodynamics ** Quantum chr ...

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 ...

, and

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...

. He was awarded 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 ...

in 1979 and the

Albert Einstein Medal The Albert Einstein Medal is an award presented by the Albert Einstein Society in Bern. First given in 1979, the award is presented to people for "scientific findings, works, or publications related to Albert Einstein" each year. Recipients ...

in 1989 for all his work.

Biography

Fierz's father Hans Eduard Fierz was a chemist with

Geigy Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by revenue in 2024. Novartis manufactures the drugs ...

and later a professor at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

, his mother was

Linda Fierz-David Linda Fierz-David (1891–1964) was a German philologist and one of the first Jungian analysts in Zurich. She was the first woman admitted to the University of Basel, where she studied German philology. She met Carl Jung in 1920, becoming one of h ...

. Fierz studied at the Realgymnasium in Zurich. In 1931 he began his studies in

Göttingen 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 ...

, where he listened to the lectures of prolific academics including

Hermann Weyl Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (; ; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist, logician and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, ...

. In 1933 he returned to Zurich and studied physics at ETH under

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 ...

and

Gregor Wentzel Gregor Wentzel (17 February 1898 – 12 August 1978) was a German physicist known for development of quantum mechanics. Wentzel, Hendrik Kramers, and Léon Brillouin developed the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation in 1926. In his early y ...

. In 1936 he earned a doctoral degree with his thesis on the infrared catastrophe in quantum electrodynamics. Afterward he went to Werner Heisenberg in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and in 1936 became an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli in Zurich. For 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 1939 he treated in his thesis relativistic fields with arbitrary spins (with and without mass) and proved the spin-statistics theorem for free fields. For quantum electrodynamics the work was extended. The work on relativistic fields with arbitrary spins was later important in supergravity. In 1940 he became

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

in Basel and 1943 assistant professor. From 1944 to 1959 he was a professor for theoretical physics in Basel. In 1950 he was at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

, where he met

Res Jost Res Jost (10 January 1918 – 3 October 1990) was a Swiss theoretical physicist, who worked mainly in constructive quantum field theory. Biography Res Jost was born on January 10, 1918, in Bern. He is the son of the physics teacher Wilhelm ...

. In 1959 he led the theoretical physics department at

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

for one year and in 1960 he became the successor of his teacher Pauli at ETH. In 1977 he retired there as an emeritus professor. Fierz also worked on gravitational theory but published only one paper on the subject. In 1940 he married Menga Biber; they became acquainted through making music (he played the violin). Their marriage produced two sons.

Publications

* * * * * M. Fierz, ’Spinors’, in ''Proceedings of the International Conference on Relativistic Theories of Gravitation'', London, July 1965, H. Bondi ed., Kings College, University of London, 1965 * * M. Fierz, ’Die unitären Darstellungen der homogenen Lorentzgruppe’, i
''Preludes in theoretical physics, in honor of V. F. Weisskopf''
A. de-Shalit, H. Feshbach and L. van Hove (eds.), North Holland, Amsterdam, 1966; * M. Fierz, ''Vorlesungen zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Mechanik''. Springer 1972;

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

Family site

"Physics Today" obituary
(includes a photo) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fierz, Markus 1912 births 2006 deaths People associated with CERN Scientists from Basel-Stadt Swiss physicists Swiss theoretical physicists Academic staff of ETH Zurich Albert Einstein Medal recipients Winners of the Max Planck Medal

Biography

Publications

Notes

See also

References

External links