[ad_1]
Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose work has linked two of the four fundamental forces, has died at the age of 88, the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) reported on Saturday (July 24).
His work formed the basis of the Standard Model, the comprehensive physical theory that describes the behavior of subatomic particles. Its seminal work was a slim three-page document published in 1967 in the journal Physical Review Letters and titled “A Model of Leptons”. In it, he predicted how subatomic particles known as W, Z and the famous Higgs boson are expected to behave – years before these particles are experimentally detected, according to a statement from UT Austin.
The article also helped unify the electromagnetic force and the weak force and predicted that the so-called “neutral weak currents” governed how the particles would interact, the statement said. In 1979, Weinberg and physicists Sheldon Glashow and Abdus Salam won the Nobel Prize in Physics for this work. Throughout his life, Weinberg would continue his search for a unified theory that unites the four forces, the statement said.
Weinberg also had a knack for making physics accessible to everyone. His book “The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe” (Basic Books, 1977) described, in simple and exciting language, those first few minutes of the universe’s infancy and set out the arguments for of the expansion of the universe. universe.
“Professor Weinberg has unraveled the mysteries of the universe for millions of people, enriching the human concept of nature and our relationship to the world,” Jay Hartzell, president of UT Austin, said in the statement. “From his students to science enthusiasts, from astrophysicists to public policy makers, he has made a huge difference in our understanding. In short, he changed the world.
Weinberg was born in New York City in 1933. His love for science began with a chemistry ensemble, according to the release. At the age of 16, he had decided to study theoretical physics, Weinberg wrote on the Nobel Prize’s website. He attended Cornell University for his undergraduate work and received a doctorate in physics from Princeton University in 1957.
He married his wife Louise in 1954 and had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1963, according to the Nobel Prize’s website. In 1982, Weinberg moved to UT Austin, where he was a professor of physics and astronomy for decades.
No cause of death was disclosed, but the physicist had been hospitalized for weeks, according to the Washington Post.
Originally posted on Live Science.
[ad_2]
Source link