2022 ICTP Dirac Medal Winners Announced: Three Share Prize for Fundamental Work in Statistical Mechanics

[ICTP Director]

*2022 ICTP Dirac Medal Winners Announced: Three Share Prize for 
Fundamental Work in Statistical Mechanics *

We are pleased to inform you that ICTP has awarded its 2022 Dirac Medal 
to three distinguished physicists "for groundbreaking and mathematically 
rigorous contributions to the understanding of the statistical mechanics 
of classical and quantum physical systems".

The 2022 Dirac Medallists are:

     Joel L. Lebowitz, Center for Mathematical Sciences Research, 
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA
     Elliott H. Lieb, Princeton University, USA
     David P. Ruelle, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, France

The three physicists have received the medal for their important work in 
the field of statistical mechanics that has very significantly deepened 
and expanded our mathematical understanding of physical systems in many 
new directions, sometimes different from the traditional ones. Their 
major contributions include, among others, the study of non-equilibrium 
physics and large deviations; the proof of the stability of matter; the 
analytic solution of two-dimensional models; seminal results in quantum 
information theory; the definition of Gibbs states for infinite systems; 
and the analysis of chaos and turbulence. All three scientists were 
previously awarded the Boltzmann Medal, a prize awarded to physicists 
who obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics.

The Dirac Medal is usually awarded to scientists that have followed Paul 
Dirac's footsteps in his belief that applying rigorous mathematics to 
physics is the best approach to understanding physical systems and their 
properties. The work of this year's Dirac Medallists reflects this 
approach: they used a solid mathematical framework based on statistical 
and probability methods to explain the macroscopic behaviour of the 
microscopic world of particles. Lebowitz, Lieb and Ruelle have made 
valuable contributions that have impacted not only the field of 
statistical mechanics, but that also have had broader influences on 
other fields of physics such as condensed matter and quantum physics.

"The massive body of work of the three Dirac Medallists for 2022 is 
impressive both in its scope and depth, providing new mathematically 
rigorous tools for the understanding of physical systems," said ICTP 
Director Atish Dabholkar, adding, "It has had a far-reaching impact on 
several branches of physics ranging from non-equilibrium statistical 
physics, stability of matter and quantum information theory to chaos and 
turbulence."

More details about this year's Medallists can be found at 
https://www.ictp.it/about-ictp/media-centre/news/2022/8/2022-dirac-medal-winners-announced.aspx

Best regards,

Office of the Director, ICTP