Martinus J. G. Veltman

2025-07-18T18:16:29Z

2003:C3:2F00:3E59:71D6:4EC:A6BF:2037: I added myself to his students

{{Short description|Dutch theoretical physicist (1931–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image = Martinus Veltman.jpg
| caption = Veltman in 2005
| birth_name = Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|6|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Waalwijk]], Netherlands
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|1|4|1931|6|27|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Bilthoven]], Netherlands
| nationality = Dutch
| fields = [[Physics]]
| workplaces = {{ubl|[[University of Michigan-Ann Arbor]]|[[Utrecht University]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Utrecht University]]
|known_for = [[Renormalization]] of [[Yang–Mills theory]] [[Dimensional regularization]] [[Schoonschip]] [[Massive_gravity#The_vDVZ_discontinuity|vDVZ discontinuity]] Passarino–Veltman reduction
| doctoral_students = {{ubl|[[Gerardus 't Hooft]]|[[Peter van Nieuwenhuizen]]|[[Bernard de Wit]]|[[Jochum Johan van der Bij]]}}
| awards = [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1999) [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|Dirac Medal]] (1996) [[High Energy and Particle Physics Prize]] (1993)
| thesis_title = Intermediate particles in S-matrix theory and calculation of higher order effects in the production of intermediate vector bosons
| thesis_year = 1963
| thesis_url = https://inspirehep.net/literature/923826
| doctoral_advisor = Léon C. P. van Hove
}}

'''Martinus Justinus Godefriedus''' "'''Tini'''" '''Veltman''' ({{IPA|nl|mɑrˈtinʏ ɕʏsˈtinʏs xoːdəˈfridʏs ˈtini ˈvɛltmɑn}};{{efn|In isolation, ''Martinus'', ''Justinus'' and ''Godefriedus'' are pronounced {{IPA|nl|mɑrˈtinʏs|}}, {{IPA|nl|jʏsˈtinʏs|}} and {{IPA|nl|ɣoːdəˈfridʏs|}}.}} 27 June 1931 – 4 January 2021)<ref>{{Cite book |last=van Delft |first=Dirk |title=Verrek, dat is 't! Het strijdvaardige leven van Nobelprijswinnaar Martinus Veltman |publisher=Uitgeverij Prometheus |year=2023 |isbn=9789044652970 |location=Amsterdam |language=NL}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Nobelprijswinnaar Martin Veltman (1931) overleden |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/01/06/een-voor-nederland-te-uitgesproken-gigant-a4026328 |work=NRC |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/1981949169/nobelprijswinnaar-martinus-veltman-89-overleden|title=Nobelprijswinnaar Martinus Veltman (89) overleden|date=6 January 2021|website=Telegraaf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Martinus Veltman (1931 – 2021)|url=https://home.cern/news/obituary/cern/martinus-veltman-1931-2021|access-date=2021-01-12|website=CERN|language=en}}</ref> was a Dutch [[theoretical physicist]]. He shared the 1999 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with his former PhD student [[Gerardus 't Hooft]] for their work on [[particle theory]].<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Iliopoulos|first1=John|author-link=John Iliopoulos|last2=Maiani|first2=Luciano|author-link2=Luciano Maiani|date=20 January 2021|title=Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman (1931 – 2021)|url=https://home.cern/news/obituary/cern/martinus-justinus-godefriedus-veltman-1931-2021|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-27|website=CERN|language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==
Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman was born in [[Waalwijk]], Netherlands, on 27 June 1931. His father was the head of the local primary school. Three of his father's siblings were primary school teachers. His mother's father was a contractor and also ran a café. He was the fourth child in a family with six children. He started studying mathematics and physics at [[Utrecht University]] in 1948.<ref name="Nobel-bio">{{Nobelprize}}</ref>

As a youth he had a great interest in radio electronics, which was a difficult hobby to work on because the occupying German army had confiscated most of the available radio equipment.<ref name="Nobel-bio" />

In 1955, he became an assistant to Prof. Michels of the Van Der Waals laboratory in [[Amsterdam]]. Michels was an experimental physicist, working in high pressure physics. His primary task was the upkeep of a large library collection and occasional lecture preparations for Michels.

His research career advanced when he moved to [[Utrecht]] to work under [[Léon Van Hove]] in 1955. He received his [[Master of Science|MSc]] degree in 1956, after which he was drafted into military service for two years, returning in February 1959. Van Hove then hired him as a doctoral researcher. He obtained his [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in theoretical physics in 1963 and became professor at Utrecht University in 1966.<ref name="Nobel-bio" />

In 1960, Van Hove became director of the theory division at [[CERN]] in [[Geneva]], Switzerland, the European High Energy laboratory. Veltman followed him there in 1961. Meanwhile, in 1960, he married his wife Anneke, who gave birth to their daughter Hélène in the Netherlands, before moving to Geneva to live with Martinus. Hélène followed in her father's footsteps and in due time completed her particle physics thesis with [[Mary Gaillard]] at [[UC Berkeley|Berkeley]], though she now works in the financial industry in [[London]].<ref name="Nobel-bio" />

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]].

Veltman was closely involved in the 1963 CERN neutrino experiment, analyzing images as they were generated by the detectors. When no spectacular events came out, enthusiasm waned, and after a while Veltman and Bernardini were the only ones analyzing the images. As a result, Veltman became the spokesman for the group at the Brookhaven Conference in 1963.<ref name="Nobel-bio" />

In 1971, [[Gerardus 't Hooft]], who was completing his PhD under the supervision of Veltman, [[renormalization|renormalized]] [[Yang–Mills theory]]. They showed that if the symmetries of Yang–Mills theory were to be realized in the [[Spontaneous symmetry breaking|spontaneously broken]] mode, referred to as the [[Higgs mechanism]], then Yang–Mills theory can be renormalized.<ref>{{cite journal | author=G. 't Hooft and M. Veltman | title=Regularization and Renormalization of Gauge Fields | journal=Nuclear Physics B | volume=44 | issue=1 | year=1972 | pages=189–219 |bibcode = 1972NuPhB..44..189T |doi = 10.1016/0550-3213(72)90279-9 | hdl=1874/4845 | url=https://repositorio.unal.edu.co/handle/unal/81144 | hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~hooft101/gthpub/regularization_renormalization.pdf|title=Regularization and Renormalization of Gauge Fields by 't Hooft and Veltman (PDF)}}</ref> Renormalization of Yang–Mills theory is a major achievement of twentieth century physics.

In 1980, Veltman became member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/8030 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125225944/https://www.knaw.nl/en/members/members/8030 |title=Martinus Veltman |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |archive-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> In 1981, Veltman left [[Utrecht University]] for the [[University of Michigan-Ann Arbor]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uu.nl/en/research/prizes-and-distinctions/nobel-prize-winners|title=Nobel Prize winners - Organisation - Universiteit Utrecht|website=www.uu.nl}}</ref> from where he retired in 1996.
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/martinus-justinus-godefriedus-veltman/|title=Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman|website=www.newnetherlandinstitute.org}}</ref> He subsequently moved back to the Netherlands.

Eventually, he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1999 with 't Hooft, "for elucidating the quantum structure of [[electroweak]] interactions in physics".<ref name="Nobel-bio" /> Veltman and 't Hooft joined in the celebrations at [[Utrecht University]] when the prize was awarded.

In 2003, Veltman published a book about particle physics for a broad audience, entitled ''Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics''.

On 4 January 2021, Veltman died in his home in [[Bilthoven]], the Netherlands.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Nobel prize winner Martinus Veltman passed away - News - Universiteit Utrecht|url=https://www.uu.nl/en/news/nobel-prize-winner-martinus-veltman-passed-away|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106131011/https://www.uu.nl/en/news/nobel-prize-winner-martinus-veltman-passed-away|date=2021-01-06|archive-date=2021-01-06|website=www.uu.nl|language=en}}</ref>

Asteroid [[9492 Veltman]] is named in his honor.

==See also==
*[[Chiral anomaly]]
*[[Pauli–Villars regularization]]

==Bibliography==
*Veltman, M. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4826146-perturbation-theory-massive-yang-mills-fields "Perturbation Theory of Massive Yang-Mills Fields"], Utrecht Rijksuniversiteit (Netherlands). Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica. Paris Univ., Orsay (France). Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Hautes Energies, (Aug. 1968).
*Veltman, M. & J. Yellin. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4435257-some-comments-decays-eta "Some Comments on the Decays of eta (550)"], [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]], [[United States Department of Energy]] (through predecessor agency the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]), July 1966.
*Veltman, M. ''Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics'', World Scientific Publishing, 2003. {{ISBN|981-238-149-X}}.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Martinus Veltman}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture 8 December 1999 ''From Weak Interactions to Gravitation''
* [http://www.ii.umich.edu/content/michigan-lsa/physics/en/people/emeritus/veltman.html University of Michigan Page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510163447/http://www.ii.umich.edu/content/michigan-lsa/physics/en/people/emeritus/veltman.html |date=10 May 2017 }}
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/36 Freeview video 'An Interview with Martinus Veltman' by the Vega Science Trust]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901071147/http://pauli.physics.lsa.umich.edu/w/arch/som/sto2001/Veltman/real/n001.htm Freeview video 'Why do we need a linear collider']
* {{INSPIRE-HEP author}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1999 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Nobel Prize laureates from The Netherlands|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veltman, Martinus J. G.}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch physicists]]
[[Category:Particle physicists]]
[[Category:Dutch theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:Dutch Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:People associated with CERN]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:University of Michigan faculty]]
[[Category:Utrecht University alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Utrecht University]]
[[Category:People from Waalwijk]]
[[Category:Scientists from Michigan]]
[[Category:20th-century American scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Dutch physicists]]

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Martinus J. G. Veltman