Jürg Fröhlich,

Biosketch

Jürg Fröhlich is a professor emeritus of general theoretical and mathematical physics at ETH Zurich. He is known for his work in general quantum theory, quantum eld theory, statistical physics, mathematical aspects of condensed matter physics, atomic physics and quantum optics. Frohlich grew up in Switzerland. He studied mathematics and physics and graduated with a diploma in physics from ETH Zurich, in 1969. Working under the supervision of Klaus Hepp, he earned his PhD in theoretical physics from ETH in 1972. The subject of his PhD thesis concerned the infrared problem in quantum field theory. He held postdoctoral appointments at the University of Geneva and at Harvard University. From 1974 till 1977, he was an assistant professor of mathematics at Princeton University. From 1978 till 1982, he was a professor of theoretical physics at the Institutdes Hautes Etudes Scientiques (IHES) near Paris. In 1982, he returned to Switzerland as a full professor of theoretical physics at the ETH. He has been a frequent visitor at the IHES and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He has received several science prizes and is a member of the Academia Europaea and of two academies in Germany.

Research Interests

Jürg Fröhlichhas pursued diverse research interests in mathematical physics. His early work was in constructive quantum field theory and concerned the infrared problem in a model of massless particles, quantum solitons and exotic commutation relations between quantum fields. He then turned to statistical mechanics, with work on two-dimensional Coulomb gases. His results, with Barry Simon and, primarily, with Thomas C. Spencer, on phase transitions with continuous symmetry breaking, the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, and Anderson localization have become quite well known. He continued with work on quantum field- and gauge theory, with excursions into particle physics, and on the theory of disordered systems. His interests then shifted towards two-dimensional conformal field theory and three-dimensional gauge theory, including topological Chern-Simons theory. This inspired research in condensed matter theory, in particular on the quantum Hall elect. Fröhlich found the first example of a two-dimensional, time-reversal invariant topological insulator with chiral edge spin currents. He also worked on atomic physics and quantum optics, and on interacting Bose gases. At present he is exploring a new twist in the foundations of quantum mechanics. His work owes much to the efforts of numerous truly excellent collaborators.