Markus Fierz | |
|---|---|
 Markus Fierz,c. 1975 | |
| Born | (1912-06-20)20 June 1912 |
| Died | 20 June 2006(2006-06-20) (aged 94) |
| Citizenship | Switzerland |
| Known for | Spin–statistics theorem Massive gravity Fierz identity |
| Spouse | Menga Biber |
| Awards | Max Planck Medal (1979) Albert Einstein Medal (1989) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | ETH Zurich inZürich University of Basel inBasel CERN |
| Doctoral advisor | Gregor Wentzel |
| Other academic advisors | Wolfgang Pauli |
| Doctoral students | Klaus Hepp,Peter Minkowski |
Markus Eduard Fierz (20 June 1912 – 20 June 2006) was a Swiss physicist, particularly remembered for his formulation ofspin–statistics theorem, and for his contributions to the development ofquantum theory,particle physics, andstatistical mechanics. He was awarded theMax Planck Medal in 1979 and theAlbert Einstein Medal in 1989 for all his work.
Fierz's father Hans Eduard Fierz was a chemist withGeigy and later a professor atETH Zurich, his mother wasLinda Fierz-David. Fierz studied at the Realgymnasium in Zurich. In 1931 he began his studies inGöttingen, where he listened to the lectures of prolific academics includingHermann Weyl. In 1933 he returned to Zurich and studied physics at ETH underWolfgang Pauli andGregor Wentzel. In 1936 he earned a doctoral degree with his thesis on the infrared catastrophe in quantum electrodynamics.[1] Afterward he went to Werner Heisenberg inLeipzig and in 1936 became an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli in Zurich. For hishabilitation degree in 1939 he treated in his thesis relativistic fields with arbitrary spins (with and without mass)[2] and proved the spin-statistics theorem for free fields.[3] For quantum electrodynamics the work was extended.[4] The work on relativistic fields with arbitrary spins was later important in supergravity. In 1940 he becamePrivatdozent in Basel and 1943 assistant professor. From 1944 to 1959 he was a professor for theoretical physics in Basel. In 1950 he was at theInstitute for Advanced Study inPrinceton, where he metRes Jost. In 1959 he led the theoretical physics department atCERN inGeneva for one year and in 1960 he became the successor of his teacher Pauli at ETH. In 1977 he retired there as an emeritus professor. Fierz also worked on gravitational theory but published only one paper on the subject.
In 1940 he married Menga Biber; they became acquainted through making music (he played the violin). They had two sons.[citation needed][5]
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