Alexander Polyakov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Markovich Polyakov is a theoretical physicist
, formerly at the Landau Institute
in Moscow
, at Princeton University
.
, including work on what is now called the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole
in non-abelian gauge theory
, independent from Gerard 't Hooft. His paper Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory, with Alexander Belavin
, and Alexander Zamolodchikov
, from 1984, has classic status. His path integral formulation
of string theory
had profound and lasting impacts in the conceptual and mathematical understanding of the theory. He also played an important role in elucidating the conceptual framework behind renormalization independent of Kenneth G. Wilson
's Nobel prize winning work. He formulated pioneering ideas in gauge/string duality long before the breakthrough of AdS/CFT using D-branes. Other insightful conjectures that came years or even decades before active work by others include integrability of gauge and string theories and certain ideas about turbulence.
and A. Zamolodchikov
) in 2011, Harvey Prize
in 2010, Dirac Medal and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
in 1986, the Lorentz Medal
in 1994, and the Oskar Klein Medal
in 1996.
He has been elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences
in 1984 and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) in 2005.
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, formerly at the Landau Institute
Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics
The L. D. Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research institution, located in the small town of Chernogolovka near Moscow...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Important discoveries
He is known for a number of basic contributions to quantum field theoryQuantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
, including work on what is now called the 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole
't Hooft-Polyakov monopole
In theoretical physics, the t Hooft–Polyakov monopole is a topological soliton similar to the Dirac monopole but without any singularities. It arises in the case of a Yang–Mills theory with a gauge group G, coupled to a Higgs field which spontaneously breaks it down to a smaller group H via the...
in non-abelian gauge theory
Gauge theory
In physics, gauge invariance is the property of a field theory in which different configurations of the underlying fundamental but unobservable fields result in identical observable quantities. A theory with such a property is called a gauge theory...
, independent from Gerard 't Hooft. His paper Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory, with Alexander Belavin
Alexander Belavin
Alexander "Sasha" Abramovich Belavin is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to string theory.He is a professor at the Independent University of Moscow and is researcher at the Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics....
, and Alexander Zamolodchikov
Alexander Zamolodchikov
Alexander Borissowitsch Zamolodchikov is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to condensed matter physics and string theory.Born near Dubna,...
, from 1984, has classic status. His path integral formulation
Path integral formulation
The path integral formulation of quantum mechanics is a description of quantum theory which generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics...
of string theory
String theory
String theory is an active research framework in particle physics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything , a manner of describing the known fundamental forces and matter in a mathematically complete system...
had profound and lasting impacts in the conceptual and mathematical understanding of the theory. He also played an important role in elucidating the conceptual framework behind renormalization independent of Kenneth G. Wilson
Kenneth G. Wilson
Kenneth 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....
's Nobel prize winning work. He formulated pioneering ideas in gauge/string duality long before the breakthrough of AdS/CFT using D-branes. Other insightful conjectures that came years or even decades before active work by others include integrability of gauge and string theories and certain ideas about turbulence.
Honors and awards
Alexander Polyakov was awarded the Lars Onsager prize (together with A. BelavinAlexander Belavin
Alexander "Sasha" Abramovich Belavin is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to string theory.He is a professor at the Independent University of Moscow and is researcher at the Landau Institute of Theoretical Physics....
and A. Zamolodchikov
Alexander Zamolodchikov
Alexander Borissowitsch Zamolodchikov is a Russian physicist, known for his contributions to condensed matter physics and string theory.Born near Dubna,...
) in 2011, Harvey Prize
Harvey Prize
The Harvey Prize is awarded by the Technion in Haifa, Israel. It is awarded in different disciplines of Science, Technology, Human Health, and Contributions to Peace in the Middle East. Two awards - each of $75,000 - are given away annually...
in 2010, Dirac Medal and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics
Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics is an award given each year since 1959 jointly by the American Physical Society and American Institute of Physics. It is established by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Heineman...
in 1986, the Lorentz Medal
Lorentz Medal
Lorentz Medal is a prize awarded every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. It was established in 1925 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the doctorate of Hendrik Lorentz. This solid gold medal is given for important contributions to theoretical physics, though...
in 1994, and the Oskar Klein Medal
Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture
The Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture at Stockholm University, dedicated to the memory of the Swedish physicist Oskar Klein , is held annually since 1988 by a prominent physicist, who also receives the Oskar Klein Medal...
in 1996.
He has been elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
in 1984 and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(NAS) in 2005.
See also
- Polyakov actionPolyakov actionIn physics, the Polyakov action is the two-dimensional action of a conformal field theory describing the worldsheet of a string in string theory...
- 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole't Hooft-Polyakov monopoleIn theoretical physics, the t Hooft–Polyakov monopole is a topological soliton similar to the Dirac monopole but without any singularities. It arises in the case of a Yang–Mills theory with a gauge group G, coupled to a Higgs field which spontaneously breaks it down to a smaller group H via the...
- Belavin-Polyakov-Schwarz-Tyupkin instantonsBPST instantonThe BPST instanton is the instanton with winding number 1 found by Alexander Belavin, Alexander Polyakov, Albert Schwarz and Yu. S. Tyupkin. It is a classical solution to the equations of motion of SU Yang-Mills theory in Euclidean space-time , meaning it describes a transition between two...
- QCD vacuumQCD vacuumThe QCD vacuum is the vacuum state of quantum chromodynamics . It is an example of a non-perturbative vacuum state, characterized by many non-vanishing condensates such as the gluon condensate or the quark condensate...
- Migdal-Polyakov conformal bootstrap
- Polyakov's Liouville theory
- Polyakov strings
- AdS/CFT correspondenceAdS/CFT correspondenceIn physics, the AdS/CFT correspondence , sometimes called the Maldacena duality, is the conjectured equivalence between a string theory and gravity defined on one space, and a quantum field theory without gravity defined on the conformal boundary of this space, whose dimension is lower by one or more...