Philippe Nozieres

Sixty years of condensed matter physics: a changing world, as fascinating as ever in a worrying social context

Wednesday June 13, 2012

11.00 a.m.

SISSA – Aula Magna

“I belong to a generation for whom condensed matter physics had no bound.” – Philippe Nozieres.

SISSA announces its first Colloquium in which Philippe Nozieres, one of the strongest living theoretical condensed‐matter theorists, will talk about the past and the future of condensed matter physics.

Abstract: Condensed matter physics has changed since the fifties: I attempt to retrace its evolution in the light of my own trajectory. It was and it remains a living field, in constant renewal. New ideas, new concepts keep appearing along with new experimental and theoretical tools. The danger lies in the bureaucratic evolution of scientific research, which might sterilize imagination and innovation. The future lies in the hands of young physicists who should defend their independence and creativity against fashions and competition.

Philippe Nozieres of ILL Grenoble is one of the strongest living theoretical condensed‐matter theorists. Among his many fundamental contributions one can cite the development of the Nozieres-Pines theory of Fermi liquids and dielectric theory of correlation energy, the Nozieres-De Dominicis theory of core level spectra, the Nozieres-Schmitt Rink theory of crossover between BCS superconductivity and Bose-Einstein pair condensation, the Nozieres theory of the Kondo effect, the Nozieres-Gallet theory of surface roughening, and many others. He has been awarded numerous prizes and recognitions including the Wolf Prize, and membership in the United States Academy of Sciences, and in the French Academy of Sciences. In addition, his scientific and humanistic breadth coupled with the greatest integrity and a sense of science as a branch of human culture make him a genuine "maitre a' penser" of our times.