Walter Eduard Thirring (29 April 1927 – 19 August 2014) was an Austrian physicist after whom the

Thirring model The Thirring model is an exactly solvable quantum field theory which describes the self-interactions of a Dirac field in (1+1) dimensions. Definition The Thirring model is given by the Lagrangian density : \mathcal= \overline(i\partial\!\!\!/- ...

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 ...

is named. He was the son of the physicist

Hans Thirring Hans Thirring (23 March 1888 – 22 March 1976) was an Austrian theoretical physicist, professor, and father of the physicist Walter Thirring. He won the Haitinger Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 1920. Together with the mathematic ...

.Thirring, H. Über die Wirkung rotierender ferner Massen in der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie. ''

Physikalische Zeitschrift ''Physikalische Zeitschrift'' (English: ''Physical Journal'') was a German scientific journal of physics published from 1899 to 1945 by S. Hirzel Verlag. In 1924, it merged with ''Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und Elektronik''. From 1944 onwards, t ...

'' 19, 33 (1918). (On the Effect of Rotating Distant Masses in Einstein's Theory of Gravitation)Thirring, H. Berichtigung zu meiner Arbeit: "Über die Wirkung rotierender Massen in der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie". ''Physikalische Zeitschrift'' 22, 29 (1921). (Correction to my paper "On the Effect of Rotating Distant Masses in Einstein's Theory of Gravitation")Lense, J. and Thirring, H. Über den Einfluss der Eigenrotation der Zentralkörper auf die Bewegung der Planeten und Monde nach der Einsteinschen Gravitationstheorie. ''Physikalische Zeitschrift'' 19 156-63 (1918) (On the Influence of the Proper Rotation of Central Bodies on the Motions of Planets and Moons According to Einstein's Theory of Gravitation)

Life and career

Walter Thirring was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where he earned his Doctor of Physics degree in 1949 at the age of 22. In 1959 he became a professor of theoretical physics 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 ...

, and from 1968 to 1971 he was head of the Theory Division and director 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 ...

. Besides pioneering work in

, Walter Thirring devoted his scientific life to

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 ...

. He is the author of one of the first textbooks on

quantum electrodynamics In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the Theory of relativity, relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quant ...

as well as of a four-volume course in

. In 2000, he received the

Henri Poincaré Prize The Henri Poincaré Prize is awarded every three years since 1997 for exceptional achievements in mathematical physics and foundational contributions leading to new developments in the field. It is named after the French mathematician Henri Poincar ...

of the

International Association of Mathematical Physics The International Association of Mathematical Physics (IAMP) was founded in 1976 to promote research in mathematical physics. It brings together research mathematicians and theoretical physicists, including students. The association's ordinary memb ...

. Walter Thirring authored ''Cosmic Impressions'',

Templeton Press The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in religious and spiritual knowledge, espec ...

, Philadelphia and London, in 2007, and in that book he sums up his feelings about the scientific discoveries made by modern

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

In the last decades, new worlds have been unveiled that our great teachers wouldn’t have even dreamed of. The panorama of cosmic evolution now enables deep insights into the blueprint of creation… Human beings recognize the blueprints, and understand the language of the Creator… These realizations do not make science the enemy of religion, but glorify the
book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
in the Bible.

His memoirs were published in 2010 as ''The Joy of Discovery: Great Encounters Along the Way'' by

World Scientific Publishing Company World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, with more than 170 journals in vari ...

. He recollects encounters with scientists like

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

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 ...

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

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 others as well as his collaborations with

Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist who played a preeminent role in the development of the theory of elementary particles. Gell-Mann introduced the concept of quarks as the funda ...

and

Elliott Lieb Elliott Hershel Lieb (born July 31, 1932) is an American mathematical physicist. He is a professor of mathematics and physics at Princeton University. Lieb's works pertain to quantum and classical many-body problem, atomic structure, the stabi ...

Honours and awards

* Eötvös Medal (1967) *

Erwin Schrödinger Prize The Erwin Schrödinger Prize (German: Erwin Schrödinger-Preis) is an annual award presented by the Austrian Academy of Sciences for lifetime achievement by Austrians in the fields of mathematics and natural sciences. The prize was established in ...

(1969) *

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 ...

of the

German Physical Society The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. As of 2022, the DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 52,220, making it one of the largest national physics societies in the world. The DPG's membership peaked ...

(1978) * Prize of the city of Vienna (1978) *

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

(1993) * Honorary Medal of the Austrian capital Vienna in Gold (1993) * Honorary doctorate from the

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

in Bratislava (1994) *

of IAMP (International Association of Mathematical Physics) 2000 * Member 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 ...

* Member of the

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

, Halle * Member of the

Pontifical Academy of Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Sciences (, ) is a Academy of sciences, scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences and the study ...

, Rome * Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

, USA * Member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

* Member of the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

Works

* ''Selected papers of Walter E. Thirring with Commentaries.'' American Mathematical Society, 1998, * ''Einführung in die Quantenelektrodynamik.'' Deuticke, Wien 1955 ** ''Principles of quantum electrodynamics.'' Academic Press, New York 1958; 2nd edn. 1962 * with Ernest M. Henley: ''Elementare Quantenfeldtheorie.'' BI Verlag, Mannheim 1975 * ''Erfolge und Misserfolge der theoretischen Physik''. In: ''

Physikalische Blätter ' is the official journal of the . Before 2002 it was named '. History The ' was founded in 1943 by , who was also the editor from 1944 to 1972. At the start, it was issued by the . Starting in 1946, it became an official publication of the ...

'' Jg. 33 (1977), p. 542ff. (Singularitäty theorem of

Stephen Hawking Stephen William Hawking (8January 194214March 2018) was an English theoretical physics, theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Between ...

and

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

, KAM-theory, stability of matter, lecture delivered at the presentation of the Max Planck medal) * ''Lehrbuch der Mathematischen Physik.'' Springer (trans. into English by Evans M. Harrell as ''A course in mathematical physics'') **1. ''Klassische Dynamische Systeme.'' 1977, ; trans. as ''Classical dynamical systems'' (1978) **2. ''Klassische Feldtheorie.'' 1978, ; trans. as ''Classical field theory'' (1978) **3. ''Quantenmechanik von Atomen und Molekülen.'' 1979, ; trans. as ''Quantum mechanics of atoms and molecules'' (1979) **4. ''Quantenmechanik großer Systeme.'' 1980, ; trans. as ''Quantum mechanics of large systems'' (1983) *''Stabilität der Materie.'' In: ''Naturwissenschaften.'' Springer, Berlin Jg. 73 (1986), p. 705ff. * ''Kosmische Impressionen. Gottes Spuren in den Naturgesetzen.'' Molden, Wien 2004, * ''Einstein entformelt. Wie ein Teenager ihm auf die Schliche kam.'' Seifert Verlag, Wien 2007, co-author Cornelia Faustmann, * ''Lust am Forschen: Lebensweg und Begegnungen''. Seifert Verlag, Wien 2008,

Notes

References

* * * Thirring, Walter, ''Cosmic Impressions: Traces of God in the Laws of Nature'

Templeton Press (May 31, 2007). . *Emch, Gérard G
"Laudatio"

"Thirring reaches his 80th birthday"
''CERN Courier'' Jul 18, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thirring, Walter 1927 births 2014 deaths Austrian Christians Austrian physicists Mathematical physicists Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences People associated with CERN Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Schrödinger Prize recipients Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Winners of the Max Planck Medal Presidents of the International Association of Mathematical Physics