- published: 29 Apr 2015
- views: 939
Eugene Paul "E. P." Wigner (Hungarian: Wigner Jenő Pál; November 17, 1902 – January 1, 1995), was a Hungarian American theoretical physicist and mathematician. He received half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles".
A graduate of the Technische Hochschule in Berlin, Wigner worked as an assistant to Karl Weissenberg and Richard Becker at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, and David Hilbert at the University of Göttingen. Wigner and Hermann Weyl were responsible for introducing group theory into physics, particularly the theory of symmetry in physics. Along the way he performed ground-breaking work in pure mathematics, in which he authored a number of mathematical theorems. In particular, Wigner's theorem is a cornerstone in the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. He is also known for his research into the structure of the atomic nucleus. In 1930, Princeton University recruited Wigner, along with John von Neumann, and he moved to the United States.
John von Neumann (/vɒn ˈnɔɪmən/; Hungarian: Neumann János (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈnɒjmɒn ˈjaːnoʃ ˈlɒjoʃ]; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American pure and applied mathematician, physicist, inventor, and polymath. He made major contributions to a number of fields, including mathematics (foundations of mathematics, functional analysis, ergodic theory, geometry, topology, and numerical analysis), physics (quantum mechanics, hydrodynamics, fluid dynamics and quantum statistical mechanics), economics (game theory), computing (Von Neumann architecture, linear programming, self-replicating machines, stochastic computing), and statistics.
He was a pioneer of the application of operator theory to quantum mechanics, in the development of functional analysis, a principal member of the Manhattan Project and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (as one of the few originally appointed), and a key figure in the development of game theory and the concepts of cellular automata, the universal constructor and the digital computer. He published 150 papers in his life; 60 in pure mathematics, 20 in physics, and 60 in applied mathematics. His last work, an unfinished manuscript written while in the hospital, was later published in book form as The Computer and the Brain.
Eugene Wigner - The Quantum Mechanical Meaning of the Concept of Reality (1982, German Presentation)
Greatest Mathematician Of The 20th Century
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
Episode 4 - Three is a Magic Number (Eugene Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, Johannes Jensen, 1963)
Creative Quotations from Eugene Wigner for Nov 17
Edward Teller and the Other Martians of Science by Istvan Hargittai
Eugene Wigner
John Von Neumann & The Atomic Bomb
66s Long - Episode 4: Bonus Clip One (Eugene Wigner, Maria Goeppert Mayer, J. Hans D. Jensen)
Eugene Wigner Quotes