Julian Schwinger (1918-1994) was an American theoretical physicist and the 1965 Nobel Prize winner.
During the summer of 1943, Schwinger briefly worked on the development of the atomic bomb at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory. Later that year, he transferred to the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, providing theoretical support for the development of radar.
Scientific Contributions
Schwinger’s revolutionary work on quantum electrodynamics improved physicists’ understanding of the interaction of charged particles with electromagnetic fields. After World War II, Schwinger accepted a position as Associate Professor at Harvard University, where he taught from 1945 to 1974. His research focused on quantum field theory.
Schwinger formulated the Schwinger model, the first example of a confining theory, with quantum electrodynamics in one space and one time dimension. In 1965 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for his fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles.” He was one of the most prolific graduate advisors in physics, with four of his students winning Nobel Prizes.