Zhang Zongsui (1 965438+June105—1June 30, 969), physicist, academician of China Academy of Sciences, and researcher of Institute of Mathematics of China Academy of Sciences.
Zhang Zongsui 1934 graduated from Tsinghua University; 1938 received a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, England; After returning to China from 65438 to 0948, he successively served as Professor Peking University of Central University, Professor of Beijing Normal University and Director of Theoretical Physics Teaching and Research Section, Researcher of Institute of Mathematics of China Academy of Sciences, Director of Theoretical Physics Research Office and Professor of China University of Science and Technology.
Zhang Zongsui is mainly engaged in the research and teaching of theoretical physics, especially statistical physics, quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics and quantum field theory.
Chinese name: Zhang Zongsui.
Nationality: China.
Place of birth: Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Date of birth: 1 91June 051.
Date of death:1June 30, 969
Occupation: teaching and scientific research worker
Graduate school: Cambridge University, UK
Main achievements: 1957 was hired as an academician of China Academy of Sciences.
Representative works: electrodynamics and special relativity.
The life of the character
1 965438+June 20051day, Zhang Zongsui was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. I lived in Shanghai as a child, entered school at the age of five, and later entered Yucai Middle School. Inspired by Mr. Dai Tiejun, I became interested in mathematics and science, which showed my outstanding academic ability.
1930, Zhang Zongsui was fifteen years old and entered the physics department of yenching university.
193 1 year, Zhang Zongsui transferred to the Department of Physics in Tsinghua University, where he studied under Wu and other famous teachers.
1934, after graduating from Tsinghua University, Zhang Zongsui entered Tsinghua Research Institute, and applied for studying abroad in boxer indemnity in the same year.
1935, there is only one person majoring in physics. Teacher Wu suggested that Zhang Zongsui switch to astronomy, and Zhang Zongsui followed suit. After a short car crash, he won the Gengmei Award, and then went to the Purple Mountain Observatory for an internship for half a year, ready to go to the United States. However, Zhang Zongsui was ambitious in mathematics and theoretical physics, and Europe was higher than the United States in international academic level at that time. So he gave up the "beauty model".
1936, Zhang Zongsui applied for the mathematics major of "should be cultivated wide", and the two students of the fourth mathematics major of "should be cultivated wide" were Bao Xu and Zhang Zongsui.
1937, Zhang Zongsui and Bao Xu _ came to the Department of Mathematics, Cambridge University, England. Rainbow Zhu Xi, who came to Britain a year earlier, worked in statistical physics under the guidance of R·h· fowler, published seven papers in two years and obtained a doctorate in philosophy from Cambridge University.
1938, Fowler recommended Zhang Zongsui to work in the Copenhagen Institute of Theoretical Physics led by Niels N Bohr. Here, influenced by Dirac, Pauli, Rosenfeld, Wake and Mill A·h· Wilson, Zhang Zongsui changed his research direction and engaged in the research of emerging theoretical physics.
From 65438 to 0939, Zhang Zongsui went to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, worked beside Wolfgang Pauli, and wrote his first academic paper on quantum theory, Dependence of processes including mesons on azimuth. Just when Zhang Zongsui's stay in the UK at public expense expired and a one-year extension was not allowed, niels bohr expressed his willingness to let him continue to work in the Copenhagen laboratory to solve his life problems. However, Zhang Zongsui has always disliked doing experiments, and because the situation in Europe is very tense, he is worried that the war will not expand and he will not be able to return to the motherland. So he declined niels bohr's attention, bid farewell to Copenhagen in the autumn of 1939, and returned to Chongqing several times to become a professor of physics at Central University.
1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Zhang Zongsui, then 30 years old, was recommended by Joseph Needham to be a senior researcher of the British Council at Cambridge University in England.
From 1946 to 1947, Zhang Zongsui completed four high-level papers in Cambridge. He proposed to start a class in Cambridge, and Dirac supported him and arranged for him to teach field theory. This is the first time that China people set foot on the Cambridge Forum.
From 65438 to 0947, Dirac recommended Zhang Zongsui to Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies for short-term research.
From 65438 to 0948, Zhang Zongsui was invited to teach at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. Because the visa was postponed and Peking University sent him a letter of appointment, he returned to Peking University to teach in the autumn of that year. After returning to China, the article "Field Theory Conforms to Relativity" was published in the American Physical Review.
195 1 year, because he is good at the application of mathematics in physics, he began to work as a part-time researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the end of 1956, Hua suggested that he be transferred to the Institute of Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a first-class researcher and director of the theoretical physics research office.
65438-0957, Zhang Zongsui was elected as an academician of China Academy of Sciences (Department of Physics and Chemistry).
1On June 30th, 969, Zhang Zongsui died at the age of 54, persecuted by the ultra-left line.
Major achievements
achievements in scientific research
Mainly engaged in theoretical physics, especially statistical physics, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. In 1930s, many innovative and important achievements were made in the cooperation phenomenon, especially in the statistical physics theory of solid solution. He was very creative in the establishment of the formal system of quantum field theory, especially in the research of high-order WeChat business and high-spin particle quantum field theory, and achieved many international advanced achievements at that time. From 1940s to 1960s, a lot of research has been done on the mathematical form of field theory, the representation of Lorentz group, renormalization theory, statistical theory, dispersion relation and straton model, and many important achievements have been made.
In 1930s, Zhang Zongsui did a lot of statistical physics research at home and abroad, and made original achievements in the field of "cooperative phenomenon", especially in the statistical theory of solid solution, and published more than 10 papers, such as the popularization of Bate ordered-disordered phase transformation theory in alloys, the configuration number of a system and cooperative phenomenon. After returning to China, he continued to make valuable achievements in the study of cooperative phenomena and ergodicity of quantum systems.
In statistical physics, an important work is the method of studying cooperative phenomena established by Zhang Zongsui, Wang Demao and Xu Yonghuan, which can be used to find the configuration free energy of solid solutions (or similar objects). Zhang Zongsui discussed the ergodic theorem of quantum systems in his article Ergodic Theorem of Quantum Systems (Journal of Physics, 14, 1958). In the first and second articles of Calculation of Some Operators in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, he considered the relationship between relativistic quantum mechanics and the representation of nonhomogeneous Lorentz transformation groups.
At the end of 1930s, Zhang Zongsui studied quantum field theory, and made great innovations in the establishment of formal system of quantum field theory, especially in the quantum field theory of high-order Wechat quotient and high-spin particles, and achieved many advanced research results in the world at that time.
Zhang Zongsui continued to study quantum field theory and statistical physics during the six years since he taught at Chongqing Central University in the autumn of 1939, and published nine papers in the Journal of the Royal Society in Britain and the Journal of Chemical Physics in the United States. He made outstanding contributions to the establishment of the formal system of quantum field theory; There are also some cutting-edge works on high-order WeChat business and high-spin particle theory. His representative works, The Properties of Scalar Mesons, Quantum Electrodynamics with δAμ/δxμ=0, and later Higher-order Derivative Field Theory, have attracted the attention of international theoretical physics circles.
Before 1949, he published more than 10 papers in these fields. 1949 When China was liberated, just after the quantum field theory made great progress, renormalization theory appeared in 1948 to avoid the difficulty of divergence in quantum field theory. Therefore, in the first period after liberation, the research of China's quantum field was carried out in this field. In the mathematical form of the theory, it can be represented by Zhang Zongsui's OnWeiss 'sTheoryofFields (Journal of Physics, 7, 1949) and the quantum theory with high-order WeChat service (Journal of Physics, 14, 1958). After 1952, the research and application of renormalization theory basically came to an end, and the research of quantum field moved to other fields.
Another representative work of Zhang Zongsui is to discuss the classical motion equation of particles with radiation damping effect under the action of scalar meson field by using the method created by Dirac when he put forward the classical theory of electrons in 1938. Classical Motion of Particles was published in Journal of Beijing Normal University,No. 1957,No. 1. In addition, the expression of Lorentz group was studied, and the first and second papers "Calculation of Some Operators in Relativistic Quantum Mechanics" were published (Journal of Mathematics, 3, 1953).
In the study of nonlocality, Zhang Zongsui's work is representative. He has compared two kinds of quantum field theories including high-priced WeChat business. This can be found in his paper "Quantum Theory and High-level WeChat Service". Zhang Zongsui wrote "Simplification of Regular Equations in Analytical Mechanics" (Journal of Physics, 12, 1956) because he felt that it was necessary to eliminate auxiliary conditions when further discussing the wave equation of high spin particles.
During his work in the Institute of Mathematics, Zhang Zongsui used gravity to study the topics such as "the analyticity and dispersion relationship of perturbation expansion" and published more than 20 papers before and after.
Zhang Zongsui has published more than 50 academic papers and 3 scientific works.
personnel training
1952, Zhang Zongsui was expelled from Beijing Normal University. Zhang Zongsui has taught theoretical mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical physics during his four years working in Normal University. Quantum mechanics and other major courses, published 9 papers in Journal of Physics, Journal of Mathematics and Journal of Beijing Normal University, which contributed to improving the teaching and scientific research level of theoretical physics in our school.
He also held a seminar on quantum field theory with Mr. Hu Ning and Mr. Zhu Hongyuan, and trained a group of China's own theoretical talents in particle physics. Zong Xiang is thirsty for talent. The leading figures of China's field theory, Hou and Zhu Chongyuan were all graduate students he sent in those years.
Zhang Zongsui teaches thermodynamics and nuclear physics at Peking University and directs graduate students. Professor Yu Min, who later made great contributions to China's national defense science, was his first graduate student.
Honor recognition
1957 was elected as an academician of China Academy of Sciences.
social service
Member of the Committee of the Fourth China People's Political Consultative Conference.
Personal life
Zhang Zongsui's father, Zhang, is a philosopher and social activist, and his mother, Wu, is a virtuous housekeeper. His elder brother, Zhang, is the eldest son, as well as a younger brother, Zhang Zongying, and a younger sister, Zhang Zongye.
1in the autumn of 938, Zhang Zongsui came to the Institute of Theoretical Physics of Danish University in the winter of this year, and studied under niels bohr to continue his statistical physics thesis. Zhang Zongsui lived in a house in niels bohr and gained the trust of niels bohr. Niels bohr praised Zhang Zongsui for his outstanding talent and was very friendly to him. At that time, niels bohr's son A. Bohr was also studying, and the two young people soon established close friendship. Many years later, Bohr, who had led the Institute of Theoretical Physics of Danish University, visited China and met his old friend Zhang Zongsui every time.
In the "Cultural Revolution" that began on 1966, Zhang Zongsui was treated very unfairly. 1962, A. Bohr, son of the famous theoretical nuclear physicist Niebohr, came to China to give lectures. Bohr was still in middle school when Zhang Zongsui was in Copenhagen. They are about the same age and have a good personal relationship. When Apoll saw Zongsui, he casually asked whether China implemented the system of distributing cotton tickets. Zhang Zongsui never asked about housework and didn't know that there were cloth tickets in the world, so he casually replied that there were no. After returning home, he learned the truth from his wife, but he was miserable because he said something untrue. The next day, he went to the hotel to correct Bohr. Such a trivial matter is actually a great sin of "interacting with foreign countries."
Zhang Zongsui married Ms. Fu, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry of Beijing Agricultural University, and had a son, Zhang Hongqing. 195 1 year, "ideological reform" and political movements followed, and Zhang Zongsui was influenced by his father Zhang, thus becoming the focus of criticism of Peking University. He doesn't understand that publishing academic papers in the United States is "unpatriotic", so he has been reviewing, but he failed to pass the exam; Many false statements hurt his self-esteem and caused great mental pain. Soon, he divorced Ms. Fu. When he arrived at the Institute of Mathematics, Zong Xiang was glad to have a stable research environment, married Ms. Bao Kunduo and gave birth to his second son, Sharla Cheung.
Personality assessment
Zhang Zongsui has been engaged in education for many years, and his teaching achievements are remarkable, which is well received by everyone. He has trained many graduate students, and his students play a key role in various related scientific research fields in China. Zhang Zongsui loved his motherland and resolutely returned to China the night before liberation. He supports the Party and socialism. He loved science, studied hard and contributed his whole life to the research of theoretical physics and the cultivation of talents.
"In the past six months in Copenhagen, Zhang has shown great academic talent and personality charm. Under the guidance of Professor Moeller, he studied various problems in the new development of nuclear theory, especially the phenomenon of β transition. Zhang showed a very unusual level in dealing with new and complicated mathematical methods and understood its physical connotation most thoroughly. " (1939 65438+ 10 In a letter of recommendation, Bohr wrote)
Zhang Zongsui is one of the earliest scientists engaged in the study of quantum field theory in China, and his above work has been cited many times in scientific monographs and papers at home and abroad. He was the first person from China to teach at Cambridge University.
Zhang Zongsui is a perfectionist who studies rigorously. He often said that the complex material world can be expressed by mathematical equations of theoretical physics, which is extremely wonderful. Engaged in research is the greatest enjoyment of life, but also the support point of his life. So when I learned that my research notes accumulated over the years were stolen and lost, my heart ached, and I couldn't sleep and my body gradually weakened. And the endless struggle and torture made him unbearable. An extremely confident scholar fell into extreme disappointment, so he committed suicide by taking too much sleeping pills, ending a brilliant and wronged life.
Zhang Zongsui pushed himself to the international first-class level all his life, but rarely talked about his academic experience. He is opposed to quick success and instant benefit, and only thinks that peace of mind can be creative. He was gifted, but he believed that practice made perfect, so he worked hard all his life and kept improving, leaving more than 50 papers and two monographs. Zhang Zongsui is frank and straightforward. With scientific intuition, he can't tolerate political distortion. He has a strong sense of national pride and can get along and compete with western and Soviet scholars. He died prematurely in disappointment, but his knowledge and achievements, integrity and grievances will remain in people's hearts forever.
In view of the important contribution of the cooperative phenomenon theory of statistical physics and the establishment of the formal system of quantum field theory, Zong Xiang enjoys a high reputation in the international theoretical physics field, becomes a member of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and is listed in the Who's Who of the United States (1950 edition). China is one of the early scholars engaged in the study of quantum field theory.