List of theoretical physicists
Encyclopedia
The following is a partial list of theoretical physicists, those who are recognized in Theoretical physics
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Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
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Ancient Times
- ThalesThalesThales of Miletus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Miletus in Asia Minor, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition...
(circa 624–546 BCE) - PythagorasPythagorasPythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...
^* (circa 569–475 BCE) - DemocritusDemocritusDemocritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
° (circa 460 BCE) - ArchimedesArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
º* (287–212 BCE)
16–17th century
- Galileo GalileiGalileo GalileiGalileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
º* (1564–1642) - Johannes KeplerJohannes KeplerJohannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
º (1571-1630) - René DescartesRené DescartesRené Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
‡^ (1596–1650)
17–18th century
- Blaise PascalBlaise PascalBlaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
^ (1623 - 1662) - Christiaan Huygens^ (1629-1695)
- Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
^*º (1642-1727) - Gottfried LeibnizGottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
^ (1646–1716)
18–19th century
- Leonhard EulerLeonhard EulerLeonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
^ (1707–1783) - Joseph LagrangeJoseph Louis LagrangeJoseph-Louis Lagrange , born Giuseppe Lodovico Lagrangia, was a mathematician and astronomer, who was born in Turin, Piedmont, lived part of his life in Prussia and part in France, making significant contributions to all fields of analysis, to number theory, and to classical and celestial mechanics...
^º (1736-1813) - Charles CoulombCharles-Augustin de CoulombCharles-Augustin de Coulomb was a French physicist. He is best known for developing Coulomb's law, the definition of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion. The [SI unit] of charge, the coulomb, was named after him....
(1736-1806) - Joseph FourierJoseph FourierJean Baptiste Joseph Fourier was a French mathematician and physicist best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series and their applications to problems of heat transfer and vibrations. The Fourier transform and Fourier's Law are also named in his honour...
^ (1768–1830) - Thomas YoungThomas Young (scientist)Thomas Young was an English polymath. He is famous for having partly deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics before Jean-François Champollion eventually expanded on his work...
‡* (1773–1829)
19th century
- Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
*† (1791–1867) - William HamiltonWilliam Rowan HamiltonSir William Rowan Hamilton was an Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, who made important contributions to classical mechanics, optics, and algebra. His studies of mechanical and optical systems led him to discover new mathematical concepts and techniques...
^º (1805-1865) - Hermann von HelmholtzHermann von HelmholtzHermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science...
‡† (1821–1894) - William Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...
* (1824-1907) - James Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk MaxwellJames Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
(1831–1879) - Ernst MachErnst MachErnst Mach was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, noted for his contributions to physics such as the Mach number and the study of shock waves...
(1838–1916) - J. Willard GibbsJosiah Willard GibbsJosiah Willard Gibbs was an American theoretical physicist, chemist, and mathematician. He devised much of the theoretical foundation for chemical thermodynamics as well as physical chemistry. As a mathematician, he invented vector analysis . Yale University awarded Gibbs the first American Ph.D...
†^ (1839–1903) - Ludwig BoltzmannLudwig BoltzmannLudwig Eduard Boltzmann was an Austrian physicist famous for his founding contributions in the fields of statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics...
(1844–1906) - Heinrich HertzHeinrich Rudolf HertzHeinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by Maxwell...
* (1857-1894)
19–20th century
- Nikolay UmovNikolay UmovNikolay Alekseevich Umov was a Russian physicist and mathematician known for discovering the concept of Umov-Poynting vector and Umov effect.-Biography:...
(1846-1915) - Hendrik LorentzHendrik LorentzHendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect...
(1853–1928) - Henri PoincaréHenri PoincaréJules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science...
(1854–1912) - Max PlanckMax PlanckMax Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
(1858-1947) - Pieter ZeemanPieter ZeemanPieter Zeeman was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.-Childhood and youth:...
(1865-1943) - Marie CurieMarie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
(1867-1934) - Arnold SommerfeldArnold SommerfeldArnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...
(1868-1951) - Ernest RutherfordErnest RutherfordErnest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
(1871-1937) - James JeansJames Hopwood JeansSir James Hopwood Jeans OM FRS MA DSc ScD LLD was an English physicist, astronomer and mathematician.-Background:...
° (1877–1946) - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(1879-1955) - PaulPaul EhrenfestPaul Ehrenfest was an Austrian and Dutch physicist, who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem.- Biography :Paul Ehrenfest was born and grew up in Vienna in a Jewish...
(1880–1933) & Tatyana (1876–1964) EhrenfestEhrenfestEhrenfest is a surname which may refer to:* Paul Ehrenfest, a Jewish Austrian physicist and mathematician** Ehrenfest equations** Ehrenfest model** Ehrenfest paradox and Ehrenfest theorem, named after him** Ehrenfest theorem** 32796 Ehrenfest... - Richard TolmanRichard C. TolmanRichard Chace Tolman was an American mathematical physicist and physical chemist who was an authority on statistical mechanics. He also made important contributions to theoretical cosmology in the years soon after Einstein's discovery of general relativity...
° (1881-1948) - Arthur Eddington (1882-1944)
- Emmy NoetherEmmy NoetherAmalie Emmy Noether was an influential German mathematician known for her groundbreaking contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. Described by David Hilbert, Albert Einstein and others as the most important woman in the history of mathematics, she revolutionized the theories of...
(1882–1935)
20th century
- Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
º (1879-1955) - Max von LaueMax von LaueMax Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
(1879-1960) - Georges LemaîtreGeorges LemaîtreMonsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître was a Belgian priest, astronomer and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was the first person to propose the theory of the expansion of the Universe, widely misattributed to Edwin Hubble...
(1894-1966) - Max BornMax BornMax Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
(1882-1970) - Niels BohrNiels BohrNiels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
(1885-1962) - Erwin SchrödingerErwin SchrödingerErwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist and theoretical biologist who was one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, and is famed for a number of important contributions to physics, especially the Schrödinger equation, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933...
(1887-1961) - Arthur Holly Compton (1892-1962)
- Louis de BroglieLouis, 7th duc de BroglieLouis-Victor-Pierre-Raymond, 7th duc de Broglie, FRS was a French physicist and a Nobel laureate in the year 1929. He was the sixteenth member elected to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française in 1944, and served as Perpetual Secretary of the Académie des sciences, France.-Biography :Louis de...
(1892–1987) - Satyendra Nath BoseSatyendra Nath BoseSatyendra Nath Bose FRS was an Indian mathematician and physicist noted for his collaboration with Albert Einstein in developing a theory regarding the gaslike qualities of electromagnetic radiation. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation...
(1894–1974) - Igor TammIgor TammIgor Yevgenyevich Tamm was a Soviet physicist and Nobel laureate who received most prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Ilya Frank, for the discovery of Cherenkov radiation, made in 1934.-Biography:Tamm was born in Vladivostok, Russian Empire , in a...
(1895-1971) - Leó SzilárdLeó SzilárdLeó Szilárd was an Austro-Hungarian physicist and inventor who conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear reactor with Enrico Fermi, and in late 1939 wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb...
(1898–1964) - Wolfgang PauliWolfgang PauliWolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
(1900-1958) - George Eugene UhlenbeckGeorge Eugene UhlenbeckGeorge Eugene Uhlenbeck was a Dutch-American theoretical physicist.-Background and education:George Uhlenbeck was the son of Eugenius and Anne Beeger Uhlenbeck...
(1900-1988) - Enrico FermiEnrico FermiEnrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
* (1901-1954) - Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976)
- Samuel Abraham GoudsmitSamuel Abraham GoudsmitSamuel Abraham Goudsmit was a Dutch-American physicist famous for jointly proposing the concept of electron spin with George Eugene Uhlenbeck in 1925.-Biography:...
(1902-1978) - Pascual JordanPascual Jordan-Further reading:...
(1902-1980) - Paul DiracPaul DiracPaul Adrien Maurice Dirac, OM, FRS was an English theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the early development of both quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics...
(1902-1984) - Eugene Wigner (1902-1995)
- Robert OppenheimerRobert OppenheimerJulius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
* (1904–1967) - George GamowGeorge GamowGeorge Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave...
‡° (1904–1968) - Felix BlochFelix BlochFelix Bloch was a Swiss physicist, working mainly in the U.S.-Life and work:Bloch was born in Zürich, Switzerland to Jewish parents Gustav and Agnes Bloch. He was educated there and at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, also in Zürich. Initially studying engineering he soon changed to physics...
(1905-1983) - Ettore MajoranaEttore MajoranaEttore Majorana was an Italian theoretical physicist who began work on neutrino masses. He disappeared suddenly in mysterious circumstances. He is noted for the eponymous Majorana equation and for Majorana fermions.-Gifted in mathematics:Majorana was born in Catania, Sicily...
(1906-1938) - Maria Goeppert-Mayer (1906-1972)
- Sin-Itiro TomonagaSin-Itiro Tomonagawas a Japanese physicist, influential in the development of quantum electrodynamics, work for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 along with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger.-Biography:...
(1906-1979) - J. Hans D. JensenJ. Hans D. JensenJohannes Hans Daniel Jensen was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, known as the Uranium Club, in which he made contributions to the separation of uranium isotopes. After the war Jensen was a professor at the University of Heidelberg...
(1907-1973) - Hideki YukawaHideki Yukawané , was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate.-Biography:Yukawa was born in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto. In 1929, after receiving his degree from Kyoto Imperial University, he stayed on as a lecturer for four years. After graduation, he was interested in...
(1907–1981) - Lev LandauLev LandauLev Davidovich Landau was a prominent Soviet physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics...
(1908–1968) - Viktor Ambartsumian (1908-1996)
- Ilya FrankIlya FrankIlya Mikhailovich Frank was a Soviet winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958 jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Igor Y. Tamm, also of the Soviet Union. He received the award for his work in explaining the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation...
(1908-1990) - John BardeenJohn BardeenJohn Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a...
(1908-1991) - Anatoly VlasovAnatoly VlasovAnatoly Alexandrovich Vlasov was a Russian theoretical physicist prominent in the fields of statistical mechanics, kinetics, and especially in plasma physics.-Biography:...
(1908-1975) - Nikolay BogolyubovNikolay BogolyubovNikolay Nikolaevich Bogolyubov was a Russian and Ukrainian Soviet mathematician and theoretical physicist known for a significant contribution to quantum field theory, classical and quantum statistical mechanics, and to the theory of dynamical systems; a recipient of the Dirac Prize...
(1909-1992) - José Enrique MoyalJosé Enrique MoyalJosé Enrique Moyal was a mathematical physicist who contributed to aeronautical engineering, electrical engineering and statistics, among other fields...
(1910-1998) - Arsenij SokolovArsenij SokolovArseny Alexandrovich Sokolov was a Russian theoretical physicist known for the development of synchrotron radiation theory.-Biography:Arseny Sokolov graduated from Tomsk State University in 1931. He obtained the degree of Kandidat nauk from TSU under supervision of Piotr Tartakovsky...
(1910-1986) - Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharSubrahmanyan ChandrasekharSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, FRS ) was an Indian origin American astrophysicist who, with William A. Fowler, won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Physics for key discoveries that led to the currently accepted theory on the later evolutionary stages of massive stars...
(1910-1995) - William Alfred FowlerWilliam Alfred FowlerWilliam Alfred "Willy" Fowler was an American astrophysicist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983. He should not be confused with the British astronomer Alfred Fowler....
(1911-1995) - Robert Dicke (1916-1997)
- David BohmDavid BohmDavid Joseph Bohm FRS was an American-born British quantum physicist who contributed to theoretical physics, philosophy, neuropsychology, and the Manhattan Project.-Youth and college:...
(1917-1992) - Dmitry ZubarevDmitry ZubarevDmitry Nikolaevich Zubarev was a Russian theoretical physicist known for his contributions to statistical mechanics, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, plasma physics, theory of turbulence, and to the development of the double-time Green function's formalism....
(1917-1992) - Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
(1918-1988) - Julian SchwingerJulian SchwingerJulian Seymour Schwinger was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on the theory of quantum electrodynamics, in particular for developing a relativistically invariant perturbation theory, and for renormalizing QED to one loop order.Schwinger is recognized as one of the...
(1918-1994) - Igor TernovIgor TernovIgor Mikhailovich Ternov was a Russian theoretical physicist, known for discovery of new quantum effects in microscopic particle motion such as Dynamic Character of the Electron Anomalous Magnetic Moment, the Effect of Radiative Polarization of Electrons and Positrons in a Magnetic Field, and...
(1921-1996) - Sergei TyablikovSergei TyablikovSergei Vladimirovich Tyablikov was a Russian theoretical physicist known for his significant contributions to statistical mechanics, solid-state physics, and for the development of the double-time Green function's formalism.-Biography:...
(1921-1968) - Abdus SalamAbdus SalamMohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk Mohammad Abdus Salam, NI, SPk (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام, pronounced , (January 29, 1926– November 21, 1996) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the electroweak unification of the...
(1926-1996) - Dennis Sciama (1926-1999)
- Gurgen AskaryanGurgen AskaryanGurgen Askaryan was a prominent Soviet physicist, famous for his discovery of the self-focusing of light, pioneering studies of light-matter interactions, and the discovery and investigation of the interaction of high-energy particles with condensed matter...
(1928-1997) - Revaz DogonadzeRevaz DogonadzeRevaz Dogonadze was a notable Georgian scientist, Corresponding Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences , Dr.Sc. , Professor, one of the founders of quantum electrochemistry,-Life and works:...
(1931-1985) - Victor PopovVictor PopovVictor Nikolaevich Popov was a Russian theoretical physicist known for his contribution to the quantization of non-abelian gauge fields. His work with Ludvig Faddeev on that subject introduced the fundamental objects now known as Faddeev–Popov ghosts....
(1937-1994)
20th–21st century
- Hans BetheHans BetheHans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
° (1906-2005) - John WheelerJohn Archibald WheelerJohn Archibald Wheeler was an American theoretical physicist who was largely responsible for reviving interest in general relativity in the United States after World War II. Wheeler also worked with Niels Bohr in explaining the basic principles behind nuclear fission...
(1911-2008) - Vitaly GinzburgVitaly GinzburgVitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg ForMemRS was a Soviet theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, Nobel laureate, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and one of the fathers of Soviet hydrogen bomb...
(1916-2009) - Peter WesterveltPeter WesterveltPeter Westervelt is an American physicist and Professor Emeritus of Physics at Brown University. Westervelt is known for his work in nonlinear acoustics...
(1919-) - Yoichiro NambuYoichiro Nambuis a Japanese-born American physicist, currently a professor at the University of Chicago. Known for his contributions to the field of theoretical physics, he was awarded a one-half share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008 for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in...
(1921–) - Chen Ning Yang (1922–)
- Philip Warren AndersonPhilip Warren AndersonPhilip Warren Anderson is an American physicist and Nobel laureate. Anderson has made contributions to the theories of localization, antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity.- Biography :...
(1923-) - Freeman DysonFreeman DysonFreeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
(1923-) - Bruno ZuminoBruno ZuminoBruno Zumino is an Italian theoretical physicist and emeritus faculty at the University of California, Berkeley. He got his bachelor degree from the University of Rome in 1945...
(1923-) - Roy J. GlauberRoy J. GlauberRoy Jay Glauber is an American theoretical physicist. He is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona...
(1925-) - Martin GutzwillerMartin GutzwillerMartin C. Gutzwiller is a physicist. He is known for the invention of the variational wave-function describing electrons with strong localized interactions , for the first investigation of relations between classical and quantum mechanics in chaotic systems , as well as new solutions to...
(1925-) - Tsung-Dao LeeTsung-Dao LeeTsung-Dao Lee is a Chinese born-American physicist, well known for his work on parity violation, the Lee Model, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion physics, nontopological solitons and soliton stars....
(1926-) - Alexei Alexeyevich AbrikosovAlexei Alexeyevich AbrikosovAlexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov is a Soviet and Russian theoretical physicist whose main contributions are in the field of condensed matter physics. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003.- Biography :...
(1928-) - Robert BroutRobert BroutRobert Brout was an American-Belgian theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions in elementary particle physics...
(1928-2011) - Stanley MandelstamStanley MandelstamStanley Mandelstam is a South African-born theoretical physicist. He introduced the relativistically invariant Mandelstam variables into particle physics in 1958 as a convenient coordinate system for formulating his double dispersion relations...
(1928-) - Ezra T. NewmanEzra T. NewmanEzra Ted Newman is an American physicist, known for his many contributions to general relativity theory. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh...
(1928-) - Reinhard OehmeReinhard OehmeReinhard Oehme was a German-American physicist known for the discovery of C non-conservation in the presence of P violation, the formulation and proof of hadron dispersion relations, the "Edge of the Wedge Theorem" in the function theory of several complex variables, the...
(1928-2010) - Dmitry ShirkovDmitry ShirkovDmitry Vasil'evich Shirkov is a Russian theoretical physicist known for his contribution to quantum field theory and to the development of the renormalization group method.-Biography:...
(1928-) - Murray Gell-MannMurray Gell-MannMurray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
(1929-) - Peter HiggsPeter HiggsPeter Ware Higgs, FRS, FRSE, FKC , is an English theoretical physicist and an emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh....
(1929-) - Leon CooperLeon CooperLeon N Cooper is an American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, who with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer, developed the BCS theory of superconductivity...
(1930-) - Stanley DeserStanley DeserStanley Deser is an American physicist known for his contributions to general relativity. Currently, he is the Ancell Professor of Physics at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts....
(1931-) - Roger PenroseRoger PenroseSir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
^ (1931-) - John Robert SchriefferJohn Robert SchriefferJohn Robert Schrieffer is an American physicist and, with John Bardeen and Leon N Cooper, recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing the BCS theory, the first successful microscopic theory of superconductivity.-Biography:...
(1931-) - François EnglertFrançois EnglertFrançois Englert is a Belgian theoretical physicist. He was awarded the 2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics , the Wolf Prize in Physics in 2004 and the High Energy and Particle Prize of the European Physical Society François Englert (born 6 November 1932) is a...
(1932-) - Sheldon GlashowSheldon Lee GlashowSheldon Lee Glashow is a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is the Metcalf Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Boston University.-Birth and education:...
(1932-) - Jeffrey GoldstoneJeffrey GoldstoneJeffrey Goldstone is a British-born theoretical physicist and an emeritus physics faculty at MIT Center for Theoretical Physics.He worked at the University of Cambridge until 1977....
(1933-) - Tom KibbleTom W. B. KibbleThomas Walter Bannerman Kibble, FRS, is a British scientist and senior research investigator at The Blackett Laboratory, at Imperial College London, UK. His research interests are in quantum field theory, especially the interface between high-energy particle physics and cosmology...
(1933-) - Steven WeinbergSteven WeinbergSteven Weinberg is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles....
(1933-) - Ludvig FaddeevLudvig Faddeev-References:...
(1934-) - Julius WessJulius WessJulius Wess was an Austrian theoretical physicist noted as the co-inventor of the Wess–Zumino model and Wess–Zumino–Witten model in the field of supersymmetry...
(1934-2007) - Nicola CabibboNicola CabibboNicola Cabibbo was an Italian physicist, best known for his work on the weak interaction. He was also the president of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics from 1983 to 1992, and from 1993 until his death he was the president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences...
(1935-2010) - Peter FreundPeter FreundPeter George Oliver Freund is a professor emeritus of theoretical physics at the University of Chicago. He has made important contributions to particle physics and string theory. He is also active as a writer.-Biography:...
(1936-) - Gerald GuralnikGerald GuralnikGerald Stanford Guralnik is the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. He is most famous for his co-discovery of the Higgs mechanism and Higgs Boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble...
(1936-) - Harold PuthoffHarold E. PuthoffHarold E. Puthoff is an American physicist who, earlier in his career was involved in research on paranormal topics. In 1967, Puthoff earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University...
(1936-) - Kenneth G. WilsonKenneth G. WilsonKenneth Geddes Wilson is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner.As an undergraduate at Harvard, he was a Putnam Fellow. He earned his PhD from Caltech in 1961, studying under Murray Gell-Mann....
(1936-) - C. R. HagenC. R. HagenCarl Richard Hagen is a professor of particle physics at the University of Rochester. He is most noted for his contributions to the Standard Model and Symmetry breaking as well as the co-discovery of the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with Gerald Guralnik and Tom Kibble...
(1937-) - Leo KadanoffLeo KadanoffLeo Philip Kadanoff is an American physicist. He is a professor of physics at the University of Chicago and a former President of the American Physical Society . He has contributed to the fields of statistical physics, chaos theory, and theoretical condensed matter physics.-Biography:Kadanoff...
(1937-) - Martinus Veltman (1937-)
- A. P. BalachandranA. P. BalachandranAiyalam Parameswaran Balachandran is an Indian theoretical physicist well known for his extensive contributions to the role of classical topology in quantum physics. He has been the Joel Dorman Steele Professor of Physics in Syracuse University since 2000. He has also been a Fellow of the...
(1938-) - Anthony James LeggettAnthony James LeggettSir Anthony James Leggett, KBE, FRS , aka Tony Leggett, has been a Professor of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1983....
(1938-) - Peter van NieuwenhuizenPeter van NieuwenhuizenPeter van Nieuwenhuizen is a Dutch physicist. He is now a distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University in the United States. Van Nieuwenhuizen is best-known for his discovery of supergravity with Sergio Ferrara and Daniel Z...
(1938-) - Daniel Z. FreedmanDaniel Z. FreedmanDaniel Z. Freedman is an American theoretical physicist. He is a Professor of Physics and Applied Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . He is known for his work in supergravity.-Education:...
(1939-) - John IliopoulosJohn IliopoulosJohn Iliopoulos is a Greek physicist and the first person to present the Standard Model of particle physics in a single report. He is best known for his prediction of the charm quark with Sheldon Lee Glashow and Luciano Maiani...
(1940-) - Brian David JosephsonBrian David JosephsonBrian David Josephson, FRS is a Welsh physicist. He became a Nobel Prize laureate in 1973 for the prediction of the eponymous Josephson effect....
(1940-) - Toshihide MaskawaToshihide Maskawais a Japanese theoretical physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one quarter of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."-Biography:A native of Aichi...
(1940-) - Stanislav MikheyevStanislav MikheyevStanislav Pavlovich Mikheyev was a Russian physicist known for a co-discovering of the MSW effect.-Education and research:Stanislav Mikheyev graduated from Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University in 1965. Then he became a researcher at Lebedev Physical Institute...
(1940-) - Leonard SusskindLeonard SusskindLeonard Susskind is the Felix Bloch Professor of Theoretical Physics at Stanford University. His research interests include string theory, quantum field theory, quantum statistical mechanics and quantum cosmology...
(1940-) - Kip ThorneKip ThorneKip Stephen Thorne is an American theoretical physicist, known for his prolific contributions in gravitation physics and astrophysics and for having trained a generation of scientists...
(1940-) - Francisco Jose Yndurain MuñozFrancisco Jose Yndurain MuñozFrancisco Jose Yndurain Muñoz was a Spanish theoretical physicist. He founded the particle physics research group that became the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he was a Professor...
(1940-2008) - David GrossDavid GrossDavid Jonathan Gross is an American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. He is currently the director and holder of the Frederick W...
(1941-) - Luciano MaianiLuciano MaianiLuciano Maiani is a San Marino citizen physicist best known for his prediction of the charm quark with Sheldon Lee Glashow and John Iliopoulos .-Academic history:...
(1941-) - Holger Bech NielsenHolger Bech NielsenHolger Bech Nielsen is a Danish theoretical physicist, professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, at the University of Copenhagen, where he started studying physics in 1961....
(1941-) - John Henry Schwarz (1941-)
- Stephen HawkingStephen HawkingStephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
° (1942-) - V. BalakrishnanV. Balakrishnan (physicist)V. Balakrishnan is an Indian theoretical physicist who has worked in a number of areas, namely theoretical particle physics, many-body theory, dynamical systems, stochastic processes, quantum dynamics, and the mechanical behavior of solids. Dr. Balakrishnan received his PhD from Brandeis University...
(1943-) - Richard H. PriceRichard H. PriceRichard H. Price is an American physicist specializing in general relativity.Price graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1960, and went on to earn a dual degree in physics and engineering from Cornell University in 1965. He earned his Ph.D. in 1971 from Caltech under the supervision of Kip...
(1943-) - Pierre RamondPierre RamondPierre Ramond is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida...
(1943-) - Makoto KobayashiMakoto Kobayashi (physicist)is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one quarter of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks in nature."- Biography :After completing his PhD at...
(1944-) - Sergio FerraraSergio FerraraSergio Ferrara is an Italian physicist working on theoretical physics of elementary particles and mathematical physics. He is renowned for the discovery of theories introducing supersymmetry as a symmetry of elementary particles Sergio Ferrara (born 1945) is an Italian physicist working on...
(1945-) - Michael Green (physicist)Michael Green (physicist)Michael Boris Green FRS is a British physicist and one of the pioneers of string theory. Currently a professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and a Fellow in Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge in England, he succeeded Stephen Hawking on 1 November 2009...
(1946-) - Gerardus 't HooftGerardus 't HooftGerardus 't Hooft is a Dutch theoretical physicist and professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics with his thesis advisor Martinus J. G...
(1946-) - Howard GeorgiHoward GeorgiHoward Mason Georgi III, born January 6, 1947 in San Bernardino, California, is Harvard College Professor and Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University...
(1947-) - Michio KakuMichio Kakuis an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
(1947–) - Hugh David PolitzerHugh David PolitzerHugh David Politzer is an American theoretical physicist. He shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics with David Gross and Frank Wilczek for their discovery of asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics.-Life and career:...
(1949-) - Sylvester James GatesSylvester James GatesSylvester James Gates, Jr. is a noted American theoretical physicist. He received BS and PhD degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the latter in 1977. His doctoral thesis was the first thesis at MIT to deal with supersymmetry. Gates is currently the John S...
(1950-) - Robert B. LaughlinRobert B. LaughlinRobert Betts Laughlin is a professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University. Along with Horst L. Störmer of Columbia University and Daniel C. Tsui of Princeton University, he was awarded a share of the 1998 Nobel Prize in physics for their explanation of the fractional quantum Hall...
(1950-) - Stephen ParkeStephen ParkeStephen Parke is a New Zealand physicist. He is currently a Senior Scientist and Head of the Theoretical Physics Department at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory .-Biography:...
(1950-) - Kyriakos TamvakisKyriakos TamvakisKyriakos Tamvakis is a Greek theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Ioannina. Kyriakos Tamvakis studied at the University of Athens and gained his Ph.D. at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA in 1978. His thesis title was "Induced Boson Selfcouplings In Four Fermion...
(1950-) - Alexei Smirnov (1951-)
- Frank WilczekFrank WilczekFrank Anthony Wilczek is a theoretical physicist from the United States and a Nobel laureate. He is currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ....
(1951-) - Edward WittenEdward WittenEdward Witten is an American theoretical physicist with a focus on mathematical physics who is currently a professor of Mathematical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study....
(1951-) - Sankar Das SarmaSankar Das SarmaSankar Das Sarma is an Indian-born American theoretical condensed matter physicist, who has worked in the areas of strongly correlated materials, graphene, semiconductor physics, low-dimensional systems, topological matter, quantum Hall effect, nanoscience, spintronics, collective properties of...
(1953-) - David DeutschDavid DeutschDavid Elieser Deutsch, FRS is an Israeli-British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford...
(1953-) - José W. F. ValleJosé W. F. ValleJosé W. F. Valle is a Brazilian-Spanish physicist whose research includes many aspects of astroparticle physics and high energy physics, especially neutrino physics....
(1953-) - Mark B. WiseMark B. WiseMark Brian Wise is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist. He has conducted research in elementary particle physics and cosmology...
(1953-) - Joseph PolchinskiJoseph PolchinskiJoseph Polchinski is a physicist working on string theory. He graduated from Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson, Arizona in 1971, obtained his B.S. degree from Caltech in 1975, and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980 under the supervision of Stanley Mandelstam...
(1954-) - Lawrence M. KraussLawrence M. KraussLawrence Maxwell Krauss is an American theoretical physicist who is professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at the Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of...
(1954-) - Fulvio MeliaFulvio MeliaFulvio Melia is an Italian-American astrophysicist and author. He is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Arizona and Associate Editor of the Astrophysical Journal Letters...
(1956-) - Nathan SeibergNathan SeibergNathan "Nati" Seiberg is an Israeli American theoretical physicist who works on string theory. He was recipient of a 1996 MacArthur Fellowship and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics in 1998. He is currently a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, USA...
(1956-) - Ashoke SenAshoke SenAshoke Sen , FRS, is an Indian theoretical physicist. He has made a number of major original contributions to the subject of string theory, including his landmark paper on strong-weak coupling duality or S-duality, which was influential in changing the course of research in the field...
(1956-) - Joseph LykkenJoseph LykkenJoseph David Lykken is a theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.-Background and education:...
(1957-) - Cumrun VafaCumrun VafaCumrun Vafa is an Iranian-American leading string theorist from Harvard University where he started as a Harvard Junior Fellow. He is a recipient of the 2008 Dirac Medal.-Birth and education:...
(1960-) - Michael R. DouglasMichael R. DouglasMichael R. Douglas is an American theoretical physicist and professor currently at Stony Brook University.Michael R. Douglas was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Nancy and Ronald G. Douglas, a mathematician specializing in operator algebras. He received his bachelor's degree in physics...
(1961-) - Marcela CarenaMarcela CarenaMarcela Carena is a senior theoretical physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.- Background and education :...
(1962-) - Lisa RandallLisa RandallLisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist and a leading expert on particle physics and cosmology. She works on several of the competing models of string theory in the quest to explain the fabric of the universe. Her most well known contribution to the field is the Randall-Sundrum model,...
(1962-) - Brian GreeneBrian GreeneBrian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
(1963-) - Raman SundrumRaman SundrumRaman Sundrum is a theoretical particle physicist. He is an Indian American of South Asian origin. His most famous contribution to the field is a class of models called the Randall-Sundrum models, first published in 1999 with Lisa Randall....
(1964-) - Durmus A. DemirDurmus A. DemirDurmus A. Demir is a Turkish theoretical physicist and a dean of the Graduate School of Engineering and Sciences at the Izmir Institute of Technology where he is the ex-chair of the Physics Department...
(1967-) - João MagueijoJoão MagueijoJoão Magueijo is a Portuguese cosmologist and professor in Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. He is a pioneer of the varying speed of light theory.- Career :...
(1967-) - Antony Garrett LisiAntony Garrett LisiAntony Garrett Lisi , who uses the name Garrett by preference, is an American theoretical physicist and adventure sports enthusiast. Lisi works as an independent researcher without an academic position...
(1968-) - Juan Maldacena (1968-)
- Nima Arkani-HamedNima Arkani-HamedNima Arkani-Hamed is a leading Canadian American theoretical physicist with interests in high-energy physics, string theory and cosmology....
(1972-) - Maxim ChernodubMaxim ChernodubMaxim Nikolaevich Chernodub is a Russian physicist best known for his postulation of the magnetic-field-induced superconductivity of the vacuum.- Beginnings and degrees :...
(1973-) - Gerald B. CleaverGerald B. CleaverGerald B. Cleaver is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Baylor University and is the Head of the Early Universe Cosmology and Strings division of Baylor's Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics & Engineering Research . His research specialty is string phenomenology and string...
- Anzhong WangAnzhong WangAnzhong Wang is a theoretical physicist, specialized in gravitation, cosmology and astroparticle physics. He is on the Physics faculty of Baylor University...
- Charles ThornCharles ThornCharles Thorn is a Professor of Physics at University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He played an important role in the development of Dual Models and string theory. Among his contributions is the proof of the non-existence of ghosts in string theory. The Goddard–Thorn theorem is a...
- Keanu Correia
Fictional Theoretical physicists
- Gordon FreemanGordon FreemanGordon Freeman is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Half-Life video game series. He is a theoretical physicist who finds himself thrust into a battle for survival against both alien and human forces. Throughout the series, Gordon must prevail in hostile situations despite...
- Eli Vance
- Isaac Kleiner
- Rodney McKayRodney McKayDoctor Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D, is a fictional character in the Canadian-American Sci-Fi Channel television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, two military science fiction television shows about a military team exploring two galaxies via a network of alien transportation devices...
- Samantha CarterSamantha CarterSamantha "Sam" Carter is a fictional character in the Canadian-American military science fiction Stargate franchise, appearing in television series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. SG-1 and Atlantis are both about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien...
- Sheldon CooperSheldon CooperSheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
- Skarl LaVolpe Koschei
- Larry FleinhardtLarry FleinhardtLarry Fleinhardt PhD is a fictional character in the television show Numb3rs, played by Peter MacNicol.Dr. Lawrence Fleinhardt is a professor of physics at CalSci and best friend and colleague of Charlie Eppes...
- Leonardo Vetra
- Viney Beniwal
- Quinn MalloryQuinn MalloryQuinn R. Mallory is a fictional character on the science fiction television show Sliders, played by Jerry O'Connell.-Childhood:Quinn was born in 1973 and raised in San Francisco, California, the son of Michael and Amanda Mallory...
- Maximillian ArturoMaximillian ArturoProfessor Maximillian P. Arturo is a fictional character on the science fiction television show Sliders. He was played by John Rhys-Davies....
- Nicholas RushNicholas RushDr. Nicholas Rush is a fictional character in the Canadian-American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-Syfy television series Stargate Universe, a military science fiction serial drama about the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team unable to return to Earth after an evacuation to the...
- Tricia Kennedy Curry
- Daniel FaradayDaniel FaradayDr. Daniel Faraday, often referred to as Dan or simply by his surname, Faraday, is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the season four premiere as a physicist, suffering from memory loss, and is part of the team aboard the ...
See also
- Academic genealogy of theoretical physicists
- List of scientists
- List of physicists