David Olive
David Ian Olive (born April 16, 1937 in London , † November 7, 2012 in Cambridge ) was a British theoretical physicist who dealt with elementary particle physics.
Olive studied at Edinburgh University and Cambridge University , where he lectured for six years after completing his doctorate. He then spent six years at CERN and later at Imperial College London , where he became a professor. After 15 years at Imperial College, he became a professor at the University College of Swansea in 1992 , where he retired in 2004. Olive was also visiting professor at Princeton University and the University of California, Santa Barbara .
In the 1960s he dealt with analytical S-matrix theory and is co-author of a standard work on this field. His work with Gliozzi and Joel Scherk in the 1970s provided convincing arguments for the existence of space-time supersymmetry in the theory of fermionic strings (NSR string). With Peter Goddard , Jean Nuyts and Claus Montonen he also investigated magnetic monopoles and their (electro-magnetic) dualities (Montonen-Olive duality) around 1977. This duality concept later became important in the “second superstring revolution” in the 1990s (S-duality). In collaboration with Goddard, he also examined the representation of the string theories underlying infinite dimensional algebras.
Olive was a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. In 1997 he received the Dirac Medal (ICTP) with Peter Goddard . He was CBE .
Neil Turok was one of his PhD students .
Fonts
- with Abraham Pais , Maurice Jacob , Michael Atiyah "Paul Dirac- The Man and his Work", Cambridge University Press, 1998 (chapter on magnetic monopoly)
- with Goddard (editor) “Kac-Moody and Virasoro Algebras- a reprint volume for physicists”, World Scientific 1988
- with Richard J. Eden , Peter Landshoff , John Polkinghorne "The Analytic S-Matrix", Cambridge 1966, 2002
Web links
- Brief biography at Swansea University
- Conference in Swansea 2004 in his honor
- Appreciation for the award of the Dirac medal
- To Olive at the Cern Courier
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Ian OLIVE. Obituary. The Times , November 13, 2012, accessed November 14, 2012 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Olive, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Olive, David Ian (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British theoretical physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 7, 2012 |
| Place of death | Cambridge |