“My Journey Through Physics & Mathematics”
Presentation Abstract:
I present snapshots of my seventy-year journey through the world of science, first as a would-be engineer, then as a physicist and later as a mathematician and a mathematical physicist. In many encounters with colleagues in different areas of research I learned that mathematics and a mathematical perspective can be pivotal in developing our thinking about physics. This fundamental connection between mathematics and physics was not always accepted at the beginning of my career, and it was even vigorously denied by some mathematicians and physicists. I mention some of my work to illustrate the value of mathematical physics for theoretical physics and to pure mathematics, the first being the Polaron bound found with K. Yamazaki in Kyoto in 1957. Another is the "ice problem", where I calculated the number of ways to color a chess board with only three colors so that neighboring squares never have the same color.
Prof. Elliott H. Lieb will be introduced by Prof. Nigel Goldenfeld, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professorship in Physics, UC San Diego.
Elliott H. Lieb is the 2023 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Basic Sciences. He is professor of mathematics and Higgins Professor of Physics emeritus at Princeton University. Lieb established a foundation for mathematical research in fields such as physics, chemistry, and quantum information science using many-body physics, while making significant contributions to mathematical analysis as well. Among many other applications, his research supports next-generation technologies in quantum computing which will harness the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems too complex for today’s computers. Lieb is a recipient of many global prizes including his 1992 Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society and his 2022 APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research.