Pierre Ramond

Infobox scientist
name = Dr. Pierre Ramond

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image_size = 150px
birth_date = January 31, 1943
birth_place = Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
nationality =
field = Physics
work_institutions = University of Florida
alma_mater = Syracuse University
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for =
prizes =

Pierre Ramond (b. 31 January 1943 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is a Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. [ [http://www.phys.ufl.edu/faculty/ramond.shtml Pierre Ramond at University of Florida] ] He played an important role in the development of superstring theory.

Academic career

Ramond completed his BSEE from Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology) in 1965 and completed his Ph. D. in Physics from Syracuse University in 1969. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at NAL (FermiLab) from 1969 to 1971. He became Instructor at Yale University from 1971 to 1973 and Assistant Professor at Yale University from 1973 to 1976. He was a R. A. Millikan Senior Fellow at Caltech from 1976 to 1979 and Caltech Research Associate from 1979 to 1980. He became a Professor of Physics at University of Florida from 1980 to 1999. Then he became a Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of Florida.

Superstring theory

Ramond played a major role in the development of superstring theory. In 1971, Ramond generalized Dirac's work for point-like particles to stringlike ones. In this process he discovered two-dimensional supersymmetry and laid the ground for supersymmetry in four spacetime dimensions. He found the spectrum of fermionic modes in string theory and the paper started superstring theory. From this paper André Neveu and John Schwarz developed a string theory with both fermions and bosons. [ [http://www.superstringtheory.com/history/history3.html A timeline of mathematics and theoretical physics] ]

According to quantum mechanics, particles can be divided into two types: bosons and fermions. The distinction between bosons and fermions is basic. Fermions are particles which have half integer spin (1/2, 3/2, 5/2 and so on), measured in units of Planck's constant and bosons are particles which have integer spin (0, 1, 2 and so on), measured in units of Planck's constant. Examples of fermions are quarks, leptons and baryons. Quantum of fundamental forces such as gravitons, photons, etc are all bosons. In quantum field theory, fermions interact by exchanging bosons.

Early string theory proposed by Yoichiro Nambu and others in 1970 was only a bosonic string. Ramond completed the theory by inventing a fermionic string to accompany the bosonic ones. The Virasoro algebra which is the symmetry algebra of the bosonic string was generalized to a superconformal algebra including anticommuting operators also.

Honors and awards

Ramond has received several awards for his contributions to theoretical physics. He is a fellow of American Physical Society. University of Florida has awarded several awards to Dr. Ramond. In August 2004, he was awarded Oskar Klein Medal by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences & Stockholm University.

Publications

*cite book|title=Field Theory : A Modern Primer|isbn=0201304503
*cite book|title=Journeys Beyond the Standard Model |isbn=0813341310
* [http://arxiv.org/abs/0708.3656 "Memoirs of an early string theorist"] Contribution to the "Birth of String Theory" Commemorative Volume

References

External links

* [http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~ramond/ Personal Page of Pierre Ramond]
* [http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~ramond/cv.html Curriculum Vitae]