Julius Wess

Julius Wess (December 5, 1934 - August 8, 2007) was an Austrian theoretical physicist noted as the co-inventor of the Wess-Zumino model and Wess-Zumino-Witten model in the field of supersymmetry. He was also a recipient of the Max Planck medal, the Wigner medal, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and of several honorary doctorates.

Life and work

Julius Wess was born in Oberwölz, a small town in the Austrian state of Styria. He received his Ph.D. in Vienna where he was a student of Hans Thirring. His Ph.D. examiner was acclaimed quantum mechanics physicist Erwin Schrödinger. In later life, Wess was professor at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. After his retirement he worked at DESY in Hamburg.

Julius Wess died at the age of 72 in Hamburg, following a stroke.

Publications

* Wess, Julius and Bagger, Jonathan (December 1991). "Supersymmetry and Supergravity". Princeton Series in Physics. ISBN 0-691-08556-0
* Wess, Julius and Bagger, Jonathan (March 1992). "Supersymmetry and Supergravity: Revised Edition". Princeton Series in Physics. ISBN 0-691-02530-4

References

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/world/europe/27wess.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics%20Topics/People/C/Chang,%20Kenneth Chang, Kenneth. "Julius Wess, 72, Theoretical Physicist, Is Dead". "The New York Times"] August 272007