Tsung-Dao Lee
Tsung-Dao Lee 李政道 | |
|---|---|
| File:TD Lee-med.jpg T. D. Lee | |
| Born | November 24, 1926 |
| Citizenship |  U.S. |
| Alma mater | National Southwestern Associated University Zhejiang University University of Chicago |
| Known for | Parity violation Lee Model Non-topological solitons Particle Physics Relativistic Heavy Ion (RHIC) Physics |
| Awards |  Nobel Prize in Physics (1957) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Columbia University |
| Doctoral advisor | Enrico Fermi |
Tsung-Dao Lee (T. D. Lee, Chinese: 李政道; pinyin: Lǐ Zhèngdào) (born November 24, 1926) is a Chinese American physicist, well known for parity violation, Lee Model, particle physics, relativistic heavy ion (RHIC) physics, nontopological solitons and soliton stars. In 1957, Lee, at age 31, with C. N. Yang received the Nobel Prize in Physics for work on the violation of parity law in weak interaction, which Chien-Shiung Wu experimentally verified. Lee and Yang were the first Chinese Nobel Prize winners.
Lee's ancestral hometown is Suzhou, Jiangsu. He was born in Shanghai, China, and received his secondary education in Shanghai and Jiangxi. The first part of his university education began at Zhejiang University, but was interrupted by the war, so he continued at the National Southwestern Associated University (國立西南聯合大學) in Kunming the next year. Lee went to the University of Chicago in 1946 and completed his PhD with Enrico Fermi. He then worked with collaborators on phase transitions in statistical mechanics and polarons in condensed matter physics. In 1953, he became an assistant professor at Columbia University, and worked mainly in particle physics and field theory. Three years later, at age 29, Lee became the university's youngest full professor. Over the years, Lee has pioneered and developed research ranging from symmetry violations in weak interactions to fields of high energy neutrino physics and RHIC physics. He remains an active member of the Columbia faculty and has held its highest academic rank, University Professor, since 1984. Currently, his interests have turned to the bosonic nature of high Tc superconductivity, the neutrino mapping matrix and new ways to solve Schrödinger equation.
Soon after the re-establishment of China-American relations with the PRC, Lee and his wife, Hui-Chun Jeannette Chin (Chinese: 秦惠莙; pinyin: Qín Huìjūn), were able to go to China, where Lee gave a series of lectures and seminars, and organized the CUSPEA (China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application).
In 1998, Lee established the Chun-Tsung Endowment Fund (秦惠莙--李政道中国大学生见习基金) in Beijing in memory of his wife, Hui-Chun Chin, who died 3 years earlier. The Chun-Tsung scholarships are awarded to undergraduates, usually in their 2nd or 3rd year, at five universities in China. Students selected for such scholarships are named "Chun-Tsung Scholars" (莙政学者). Chin and Lee were married in 1950 and have two sons: James and Stephen.
Lee reads whodunit novels when he does not work on physics.
His English given name differs dramatically from the then-existing Chinese Romanizations, such as Wade-Giles and Gwoyeu Romatzyh. Tsung Dao Lee is also known as T.D. Lee.
Awards
- Nobel Prize in Physics (1957)
- Albert Einstein Award (1957)
- G. Bude Medal, College de France (1969,1977])
- Galileo Galilei Medal (1979)
- Order of Merit, Grande Ufficiale, Italy (1986)
- Science for Peace Prize (1994)
- China National-International Cooperation Award (1995)
- Naming of Small Planet 3443 as the T.D. Lee Planet (1997)
- New York City Science Award (1997)
- Pope Joannes Paulus Medal (1999)
- II Ministero Dell Interno Medal of the Government of Italy (1999)
- New York Academy of Science Award (2000)
- The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Japan (2007)
References
- Lee, T.D. (1981). Particle Physics and Introduction to Field Theory. Newark: Harwood Academic Publishers. ISBN 3-7186-0032-3(hardcopy), 3-7186-0033-1(paperback).
- Lee, T.D. (1986). Ed. G. Feinberg: Selected Papers, Vols 1-3. Boston•Basel•Stuttgart: Birkhauser. ISBN 0-8176-3344-8(complete set), 3-7643-3344-8(complete set).
- Lee, T.D. (1988). Ed. R. Novick: Thirty Year's Since Parity Nonconservation. Boston•Basel•Stuttgart: Birkhauser. ISBN 0-8176-3375-8, 3-7643-3375-8.
- Lee, T.D. (1988). Symmetries, Asymmetries, and the World of Particles. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-96519-3.
- Lee, T.D. (1998). Eds. H. C. Ren and Y. Pang: Selected Papers, 1985-1996. Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach. ISBN 90-5699-609-6.
- Lee, TsungDao (2000). Science and Art. Shanghai: Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publisher. ISBN 7-5323-5609-4.
- Lee, T.D. (2002). The Challenge from Physics. Beijing: China Economics Publisher. ISBN 7-5017-5622-8.
- Li, Zhengdao (2004). Eds. Ji Cheng, Liu Huaizu and Teng Li: Response to the Dispute of Discovery of Parity Violation (in Chinese). Lanzhou, Hong Kong: Gansu Science and Technology Publisher, Cosmos Books Ltd. ISBN 7-5424-0929-8, 988-201-675-8.
External links
- Theoretical physicists
- Weak Interaction physicists
- 1926 births
- Living people
- Chinese American scientists
- Columbia University faculty
- Chinese physicists
- Institute for Advanced Study faculty
- Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- University of Chicago alumni
- Tsinghua University alumni