Franz Wegner is emeritus professor for theoretical physics

Theoretical physics

Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...

 at the University of Heidelberg. Franz Wegner attained a doctorate in 1968 with thesis advisor Wilhelm Brenig at Technical University Munich with the thesis "Zum Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg

Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...

-Modell im paramagnetischen Bereich und am kritischen Punkt" ("On the Heisenberg-model within the paramagnetic range and at the critical point “). Subsequently, he did research with a post-doctoral position at Forschungszentrum Jülich in the group of Herbert Wagner

Herbert Wagner (physicist)

Herbert Wagner is a German theoretical physicist, who mainly works in statistical mechanics. He is a professor emeritus of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.-Biography:...

 and at Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 with Leo Kadanoff

Leo Kadanoff

Leo 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...

. Since 1974 he is a professor at Heidelberg.

The emphasis of his scientific work is statistical physics

Statistical physics

Statistical physics is the branch of physics that uses methods of probability theory and statistics, and particularly the mathematical tools for dealing with large populations and approximations, in solving physical problems. It can describe a wide variety of fields with an inherently stochastic...

, in particular the theory of phase transition

Phase transition

A phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.A phase of a thermodynamic system and the states of matter have uniform physical properties....

s and the theory of group renormalization

Renormalization group

In theoretical physics, the renormalization group refers to a mathematical apparatus that allows systematic investigation of the changes of a physical system as viewed at different distance scales...

. The eponymous "Wegner-Exponent“ is of fundamental importance for the purpose of describing corrections to asymptotic scale invariance in close proximity to phase transitions. Wegner also "invented" the foundational lattice gauge theoretical

Lattice gauge theory

In physics, lattice gauge theory is the study of gauge theories on a spacetime that has been discretized into a lattice. Gauge theories are important in particle physics, and include the prevailing theories of elementary particles: quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics and the Standard...

 models. (The method developed from Wegner's foundational work is nowadays intensively used in simulations of quantum chromodynamics

Quantum chromodynamics

In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics is a theory of the strong interaction , a fundamental force describing the interactions of the quarks and gluons making up hadrons . It is the study of the SU Yang–Mills theory of color-charged fermions...

).

Wegner's outstanding research has won for him the Walter Schottky prize

Walter Schottky Prize

The Walter Schottky Prize is the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft's highest award for outstanding research work in solid-state physics. Since 1973 the prize is annually awarded. The endowment of the prize with 15,000 euros is supported by Siemens AG and Infineon Technologies and is the most...

, membership in the Heidelberger Academy of Sciences, and the Max Planck medal

Max Planck medal

The Max Planck medal is an award for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. It is awarded annually by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft , the world's largest organization of physicists.-List of recipients:...

 among other awards and recognitions.

Selected works of Wegner

• F. J. Wegner, Corrections to scaling laws, Physical Review B 5, 4529 (1972);
• F. Wegner, Mobility edge problem - continuous symmetry and a conjecture, Zeitschrift für Physik B 35, 207 (1979)
• F. Wegner, Duality in Generalized Ising Models and Phase Transitions without Local Order Parameter, J. Math. Phys. 12 (1971) 2259-2272.

Reprinted in Claudio Rebbi (ed.), Lattice Gauge Theories and Monte Carlo Simulations, World Scientific, Singapore (1983), p. 60-73. Abstract: http://www.tphys.uni-heidelberg.de/~wegner/Abstracts.html#12

External links