Biography
Martinus J.G. Veltman was born in Waalwijk, Netherlands on June 27, 1931. He started studying mathematics and physics at Utrecht University in 1948. He obtained his PhD in theoretical physics in 1963 and became professor at Utrecht University in 1966.
In 1963/64, during an extended stay at SLAC he designed the computer program Schoonschip for symbolic manipulation of mathematical equations, which is now considered the very first Computer algebra system.
In 1971, Gerardus 't Hooft, who was completing his PhD under the supervision of Veltman, renormalized Yang-Mills theory. They showed that if the symmetries of Yang-Mills theory were to be realized in the spontaneously broken mode, referred to as the Higgs mechanism, then Yang-Mills theory can be renormalized. Renormalization of Yang-Mills theory is a major achievement of twentieth century physics.
In 1981, Veltman left Utrecht University for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, frustrated by the exclusive recognition his student 't Hooft got for his PhD thesis. Veltman felt that he had formulated the problem, carried out most of the preliminary work, and written the program which actually made that dissertation possible; however, he felt that most of the credit went to 't Hooft.
Eventually, he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1999 with 't Hooft, "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics". Veltman and 't Hooft joined in the celebrations at Utrecht University when the prize was awarded.
Veltman is now retired and holds a position of Emeritus Professor at the University of Michigan. Asteroid 9492 Veltman is named in his honor.
In 2003, Veltman published a book about particle physics for a broad audience, entitled Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics, published by World Scientific Publishing.
Read more about this topic: Martinus J. G. Veltman
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