Alexander Markovich Polyakov

Alexander Markovich Polyakov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Ма́ркович Поляко́в; born 27 September 1945) is a Russian theoretical physicist, formerly at the Landau Institute in Moscow and, since 1990, at Princeton University, where he is the Joseph Henry Professor of Physics.[1][2]

Alexander M. Polyakov
Born (1945-09-27) 27 September 1945
Moscow, Soviet Union
Alma materMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Known for't Hooft–Polyakov monopole
BPST instanton
Polyakov action
Conformal bootstrap
Belavin–Polyakov–Zamolodchikov equations
Liouville field theory
AdS/CFT correspondence
Higgs mechanism
Higher-spin theory
AwardsFundamental Physics Prize (2013)
Lars Onsager Prize (2011)
Harvey Prize (2010)
Pomeranchuk Prize (2004)
Oskar Klein Medal (1996)
Lorentz Medal (1994)
Dannie Heineman Prize (1986)
Dirac Medal of the ICTP (1986)
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical high energy physics
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics
Doctoral advisorKaren Ter-Martirosian

Important discoveries

Polyakov is known for a number of fundamental contributions to quantum field theory, including work on what is now called the 't Hooft–Polyakov monopole in non-Abelian gauge theory, independent from Gerard 't Hooft. Polyakov and coauthors discovered the so-called BPST instanton which, in turn, led to the discovery of the vacuum angle in QCD.[3][4] His path integral formulation of string theory[5] had profound and lasting impacts on the conceptual and mathematical understanding of the theory. His paper "Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory",[6] with Alexander Belavin, and Alexander Zamolodchikov, founded two-dimensional conformal field theory; it has classic status.[1] 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.

Very early in his career, in a 1965 student work, Polyakov suggested (with Alexander Migdal) a dynamical Higgs mechanism, slightly after but independently[7] from the publications of Peter Higgs and others. The paper was delayed by the Editorial Ofiice of JETP, and was published only in 1966.[8]

Honors and awards

Alexander Polyakov was awarded the Dirac Medal of the ICTP and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics in 1986, the Lorentz Medal in 1994, the Oskar Klein Medal in 1996, the Harvey Prize in 2010 and the Lars Onsager Prize (together with A. Belavin and A. Zamolodchikov) in 2011. On 20 March 2013, Alexander Polyakov was announced the recipient of 2013 Fundamental Physics Prize.

He was elected to the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1984[9] and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2005.[10][11]

Famous quotes

“The garbage of the past often becomes the treasure of the present (and vice versa).”[12]

“There are no tables for path integrals.” (quoted in [13])

“I wanted to learn about elementary particles by studying boiling water.” [14] (paraphrased in [15])

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See also

References
  1. "Princeton celebrates Polyakov's 60th". CERN Courier (Mar 1): 2. 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  2. https://phy.princeton.edu/people/alexander-polyakov
  3. Belavin AA; Polyakov AM; Schwartz AS; Tyupkin YS (1975). "Pseudoparticle solutions of the Yang-Mills equations". Phys. Lett. B. 59 (1): 85–7. Bibcode:1975PhLB...59...85B. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(75)90163-X.
  4. Polyakov AM (1977). "Quark confinement and topology of gauge theories". Nucl. Phys. B. 120 (3): 429–58. Bibcode:1977NuPhB.120..429P. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(77)90086-4.
  5. Polyakov AM (1981). "Quantum geometry of bosonic strings". Phys. Lett. B. 103 (3): 207–10. Bibcode:1981PhLB..103..207P. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(81)90743-7.
  6. Belavin AA; Polyakov AM; Zamolodchikov AB (1984). "Infinite conformal symmetry in two-dimensional quantum field theory". Nucl. Phys. B. 241 (2): 333–80. Bibcode:1984NuPhB.241..333B. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(84)90052-X.
  7. Polyakov, A (1992). "A View from the Island". pp. hep–th/9211140. arXiv:hep-th/9211140.
  8. A. A. Migdal and A. M. Polyakov, "Spontaneous Breakdown of Strong Interaction Symmetry and Absence of Massless Particles", Soviet Physics JETP, July 1966
  9. Alexander M. Polyakov. Site of RAS
  10. Polyakov, Alexandre. NAS Section: Physics
  11. Dirac Medalist Elected to NAS Archived 2007-08-16 at the Wayback Machine. ICTP News. 9/5/2005
  12. Polyakov, Alexander (1987). Gauge Fields and Strings. London, UK: Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-3-7186-0393-0.
  13. Assa, Auerbach (1994). Interacting Electrons and Quantum Magnetism. New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-94286-5.
  14. Polyakov, Alexander (2003). "Interview with Alexander Polyakov". Dibner Institute for the history of science and technology. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  15. Rychkov, Slava (2019). "IPhT's theoretical physics courses: lorentzian methods in conformal field theory". Institut de Physique Théorique. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
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