Hugh David Politzer facts for kids

Hugh David Politzer (born August 31, 1949) is an American physicist. He is a professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). In 2004, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He shared this award with David Gross and Frank Wilczek. They were recognized for discovering something called asymptotic freedom in quantum chromodynamics.

Early Life and Education

Hugh David Politzer was born in New York City. His parents, Alan and Valerie Politzer, were from Hungary. They escaped from Czechoslovakia in 1939. After World War II, they moved to the United States.

Politzer went to the Bronx High School of Science. He graduated from there in 1966. He then studied physics at the University of Michigan. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1969. Later, he received his PhD from Harvard University in 1974. His professor there was Sidney Coleman.

Discovering Asymptotic Freedom

In 1973, Politzer published his first important paper. In this paper, he described something called "asymptotic freedom." This idea explains how quarks behave. Quarks are tiny particles that make up protons and neutrons.

Politzer found that the closer quarks are to each other, the weaker the strong interaction becomes. The strong interaction is one of the basic forces of nature. It holds quarks together. When quarks are very, very close, this force is so weak. They act almost like they are free particles.

This discovery was also made by David Gross and Frank Wilczek. They found it around the same time at Princeton University. This idea was very important for understanding quantum chromodynamics (QCD). QCD is the theory that describes the strong force.

Predicting Charmonium

Politzer also helped predict a new type of particle. This particle is called "charmonium." He worked with Thomas Appelquist on this prediction. Charmonium is made of a charm quark and a charm antiquark. An antiquark is like a quark but with an opposite charge.

Career and Awards

From 1974 to 1977, Politzer was a junior fellow at Harvard University. After that, he moved to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He is still a professor of theoretical physics there today.

In 1986, he received the J. J. Sakurai Prize. This award is for important work in theoretical particle physics. It is given by the American Physical Society.

In 2004, Politzer, David J. Gross, and Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics. They received the prize for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. This discovery helped us understand the strong interaction better.

In 2011, Politzer became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Fun Facts

Politzer has a few interesting hobbies. He plays the banjo and has even studied the physics of how the instrument works.

In the 1980s, he was the lead singer for a band. The band was called Professor Politzer and the Rho Mesons. They even released a song called "The Simple Harmonic Oscillator."

Politzer also had a small role in a movie. In 1989, he appeared in the film Fat Man and Little Boy. He played the physicist Robert Serber from the Manhattan Project.

See also

In Spanish: David Politzer para niños

• List of Jewish Nobel laureates