I. E. Segal
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
September 13, 1918 - August 30, 1998
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Scientific Discipline: Mathematics Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1973)
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Mathematician I. E. Segal applied algebraic methods to fundamental physics, providing new tools and concepts in the areas of functional analysis, harmonic analysis, general quantum mechanics, and astrophysics. In his studies of quantum theory, he developed a set of axioms called C*-algebra that fully expressed the classic principles of Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and von Neumann. This algebraic development led to a new branch of active research. Segal’s studies of harmonic analysis led to a proposed theory of non-commutative integration that provided a generalization of the Plancherel theorem for the Fourier transformation to general locally compact groups. Although it was a controversial position to take, Segal disagreed with the Big Bang Theory. He believed that the universe wasn’t capable of expansion and that the astronomical phenomenon called the red shift could be explained by his interpretation of principles of mathematical symmetry. This led to the development of his chronometric theory that utilized concepts of group theory (specifically the conformal group) to argue that the universe possessed unobservable symmetry that had visible consequences.
Segal received his B.A. degree from Princeton University in 1937 and his Ph.D. from Yale University three years later. He conducted research at Yale before working at the Institute for Advanced Study from 1945 to 1948. He left the Institute to teach mathematics at the University of Chicago, achieving the title of professor in 1957. He left in 1960 to accept a position as a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he would remain until his retirement in 1989. Segal was awarded three separate Guggenheim Fellowships in 1947, 1951, and 1967, and he received the Humboldt Research Award for research scientists in 1981.
