Gordon Baym | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1935-07-01)July 1, 1935 (age 90) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cornell University Harvard University |
| Known for | Baym–Kadanoff functional |
| Awards | Hans A. Bethe Prize(2002) Lars Onsager Prize(2008) Eugene Feenberg Memorial Medal(2011) APS Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research(2021) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Doctoral advisor | Julian Schwinger |
| Doctoral students | Ruben Gerardo Barrera |
Gordon Alan Baym (born July 1, 1935) is an Americantheoretical physicist.
Born in New York City, he graduated from theBrooklyn Technical High School, and received his undergraduate degree fromCornell University in 1956. He earned his Ph.D. fromHarvard University in 1960, studying underJulian Schwinger.
He joined the physics faculty of theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1963, becoming a full professor in 1968. His areas of research includecondensed-matter physics,nuclear physics andastrophysics, as well as thehistory of physics.
In 1962 he andLeo Kadanoff collaborated onQuantum Statistical Mechanics:Green's Function Methods in Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Problems. In 1969 he publishedLectures on Quantum Mechanics, a widely used graduate textbook that, unconventionally, begins withphoton polarization. In 1991 he and Chris Pethick published themonographLandauFermi-Liquid Theory: Concepts and Applications.
Baym was awarded theHans A. Bethe Prize in 2002 "For his superb synthesis of fundamental concepts which have provided an understanding of matter at extreme conditions, ranging from crusts and interiors ofneutron stars tomatter at ultrahigh temperature".[1] He also received theLars Onsager Prize in 2008 "for fundamental applications of statistical physics to quantum fluids, including Fermi liquid theory and ground-state properties of dilute quantum gases, and for bringing a conceptual unity to these areas"[2] along withChristopher Pethick and Tin-Lun Ho.
He has four children, professors of communicationsNancy Baym andGeoffrey Baym, mathematician and biologistMichael Baym, and cognitive neuroscientist Carol Baym. He was married from 1958 to 1970 toNina Baym, a professor of English at the UIUC,[3] and from 1981 to 1992 toLillian Hoddeson, a professor of history at UIUC.[4][citation needed]
