Background
Wightman, Arthur Strong was born on March 30, 1922 in Rochester, New York, United States. Son of Eugene Pinckney and Edith Victoria (Stephenson) Wightman.
physicist university professor
Wightman, Arthur Strong was born on March 30, 1922 in Rochester, New York, United States. Son of Eugene Pinckney and Edith Victoria (Stephenson) Wightman.
Bachelor, Yale University, 1942; Doctor of Philosophy, Princeton University, 1949; Doctor of Science, Swiss Federal Institute Technology, Zurich, 1968; Doctor of Science, Göttingen U., 1987.
He was one of the founders of the axiomatic approach to quantum field theory, and originated the set of Wightman axioms. Advised by John Wheeler, his 1949 Princeton doctoral dissertation was entitled The Moderation and Absorption of Negative Pions in Hydrogen. His graduate students include Arthur Jaffe, Jerrold Marsden, and Alan Sokal.
His work is summarized in the classic concise monograph PCT, Spin and statistics and all that written with R F Streater.
Its title is a play on 1066 and All That, the historical satire by Sellar and Yeatman. The PCT refers to the combined symmetry of a quantum field theory under P Parity, C charge and T time.
Spin and statistics refers to the fact that in quantum field theory it can be proved that spin 1/2 particles obey Fermi-Dirac statistics whereas integer spin 0, 1, 2 particles obey Bose-Einstein statistics. Until his death, he was a professor emeritus at Princeton.
Served to Lieutenant (junior grade) United States Naval Reserve, 1944-1946. Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences, Royal Academy Arts. Member National Academy Sciences, American Mathematics Society, American Physical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Married Anna-Greta Larsson, April 28, 1945 (deceased February 11, 1976). 1 daughter, Robin Letitia. Married Ludmilla Popova, January 14, 1977.