Edouard Brezin
Encyclopedia
Édouard Brézin is a French
theoretical physicist
. He is professor at Université Paris 6
, working at the laboratory for theoretical physics (LPT) of the École normale supérieure
since 1986.
Brézin studied at École polytechnique
before doing a PhD
. He worked at the theory division of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
in Saclay until 1986.
Brezin contributed to the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic physical properties of matter and high energy physics. He was a leader in critical behavior theory and developed methods for distilling testable predictions for critical exponents. In using field theoretic techniques in the study of condensed matter
, Brezin helped further modern theories of magnetism
and the quantum Hall effect.
Brézin was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences
on February 18, 1991, and served as president of the academy in 2005-2006. He also is a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences
(since 2003), a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
(since 2002), a foreign member of the Royal Society
(since 2006) and a member of the Academia Europaea
(since 2003). He is a commander in the French National order of merit and an Officer in the Legion of Honor.
He is Chair of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation.
He was awarded the 2011 Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics together with J Cardy and A Zamolodchikov.
.* E Brezin and V Kazakov, "Exactly solvable field theories of closed strings".Phys. Letters B236(1990)144
.
.
Département de Physique
Laboratoire de physique théorique de l’École normale supérieure
24, rue Lhomond
F-75231 Paris Cedex 0
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
theoretical physicist
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...
. He is professor at Université Paris 6
Pierre and Marie Curie University
The Paris VI University , or the Pierre and Marie Curie University , is a university located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France....
, working at the laboratory for theoretical physics (LPT) of the École normale supérieure
École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens....
since 1986.
Brézin studied at École polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
before doing a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
. He worked at the theory division of the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
in Saclay until 1986.
Brezin contributed to the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic physical properties of matter and high energy physics. He was a leader in critical behavior theory and developed methods for distilling testable predictions for critical exponents. In using field theoretic techniques in the study of condensed matter
Condensed Matter
Condensed matter may refer to several things*Condensed matter physics, the study of the physical properties of condensed phases of matter*European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, a scientific journal published by EDP sciences...
, Brezin helped further modern theories of magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
and the quantum Hall effect.
Brézin was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
on February 18, 1991, and served as president of the academy in 2005-2006. He also is a foreign associate of the United States 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...
(since 2003), a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(since 2002), a foreign member of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(since 2006) and a member of the Academia Europaea
Academia Europaea
Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....
(since 2003). He is a commander in the French National order of merit and an Officer in the Legion of Honor.
He is Chair of the Cyprus Research and Educational Foundation.
He was awarded the 2011 Dirac Medal of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics together with J Cardy and A Zamolodchikov.
Notable publications
- E Brezin and C Itzykson, "Pair production in vacuum by an alternating field ". Physical Review D2 (1970) 1191
- E Brezin, DJ Wallace and KG Wilson, "Feynman-graph expansion for the equation of state near the critical point" Physical Review Letters 29(1972) 591
- E Brezin , JC Le Guillou and J Zinn-Justin "Wilson's theory of critical phenomena and Callan-Symanzik equations in 4-epsilon dimension". Physical Review D8 (1973) 434.
- E Brezin and J Zinn-Justin, "Renormalization of the non-linear sigma model in 2+epsilon dimension ; application to the Heisenberg ferromagnets". Phys. Rev. Letters 36(1976) 691
- E Brezin, C Itzykson, G Parisi and JB Zuber "Planar diagrams". Comm. in Math. Phys. 59(1978) 35
- E Brezin, DJ Gross "The external field problem in the large N limit of QCD". Phys.Letters B97(1980)120
- E Brezin , B Halperin and S Leibler, "Critical wetting in 3 dimensions". Phys. Rev. Letters 50(1983) 1387
- E Brezin , DJ Gross and C Itzykson, "Density of states in the presence of a strong magntic field and random impurities". Nucl.Phys.B235[FS11] (1984)24
- E Brezin , DR Nelson and A Thiaville "Fluctuation effects near Hc2 in type II superconductors".Phys. Rev.B31(1985)7124
.* E Brezin and V Kazakov, "Exactly solvable field theories of closed strings".Phys. Letters B236(1990)144
- E Brezin and A Zee, "Universality of the correlations between eigenvalues of random matrices".Nucl. Phys. B402(1993)613
- E Brezin and S Hikami, "Intersection numbers of Riemann surfaces from Gaussian matrix models".Comm. Math. Phys.283(2008)507
Books
- "The large N expansion in quantum field theory and statistical physics ", E Brezin and S Wadia, World Scientific (1993)
- "Introduction to statistical field theory ", E Brezin, Cambridge University press (2010)
.
.
Département de Physique
Laboratoire de physique théorique de l’École normale supérieure
24, rue Lhomond
F-75231 Paris Cedex 0