Nobel Prize-winning physicist Yoichiro Nambu dies at 94
2 replies, posted
[quote]Yoichiro Nambu, a particle physicist at the University of Chicago whose mathematical description of the phenomenon known as spontaneous symmetry breaking helped explain the interaction of subatomic particles, contributed to the prediction of the Higgs boson, or “God particle,” and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2008, died on July 5 in Osaka, Japan. He was 94.
The University of Osaka, where he was a distinguished professor, announced his death on Friday.
In the late 1950s, Professor Nambu began investigating superconductivity, the process by which, at very low temperatures, electric current suddenly flows without any resistance.
He decided that spontaneous symmetry breaking, or SSB — the change from a symmetric to asymmetric state that scientists were just beginning to observe at the subatomic level — might better explain how substances become superconducting.[/quote]
[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/18/us/yoichiro-nambu-nobel-winning-physicist-dies-at-94.html[/url]
Damn shame. Spontaneous symmetry breaking is super important, and he's half of the Nambu-Goto action that describes the classical motion of strings. At least he had a long and distinguished life.
A darn shame. I wonder now though; how popular is Nambu as a last name? Because there was a gun manufacturer/designer in WWII named Nambu who had a lot of things named/called after him. It's what I first thought when I read the thread title.
[QUOTE=TheNerdPest14;48238132]A darn shame. I wonder now though; how popular is Nambu as a last name? Because there was a gun manufacturer/designer in WWII named Nambu who had a lot of things named/called after him. It's what I first thought when I read the thread title.[/QUOTE]
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nambu_pistol[/url]
This is what I thought of when I heard the name atleast.
This is sad, very sad. Atleast he will in a way live longer than almost every person by having contributed to something that will remain important for many, many years to come, possibly throughout the lifespan of humankind.
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