View source for Sheldon Glashow

{{Short description|American theoretical physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Sheldon Glashow
| image             = Sheldon_Glashow.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Glashow in c. 1980
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1932|12|5}}
| birth_place       = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| field             = [[Theoretical Physics]]
| work_institution  = [[Boston University]]<br/>[[Harvard University]]<br/>[[Texas A&M University]]<br>[[California Institute of Technology]]<br>[[Stanford University]]<br>[[University of California, Berkeley]]
| alma_mater        = [[Cornell University]] <small>([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]], 1954)</small><br/>[[Harvard University]] <small>([[PhD]], 1959)</small>
| thesis_title      = The vector meson in elementary particle decays
| thesis_url        = https://www.worldcat.org/title/488699543
| thesis_year       = 1958
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Julian Schwinger]]
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = [[Electroweak|Electroweak theory]] <br> [[Georgi–Glashow model]] <br> [[GIM mechanism]] <br> [[Glashow resonance]] <br> [[Rho_meson|De Rujula-Georgi-Glashow quark model]]<br>[[Chiral color]] <br> [[Very special relativity]] <br> [[Trinification]] <br> [[Weak hypercharge]]<br>[[Weinberg angle|Weak mixing angle]]<br>Criticism of [[Superstring theory]]
| prizes            = [[Oskar Klein Memorial Lecture]] (2017)<br>[[Richtmyer Memorial Award]] (1994)<br>[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1979)<br>[[J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize]] (1977)<br>[[Sloan Research Fellowship|Sloan Fellowship]] (1962)
| footnotes         = 
| spouse            = {{marriage|Joan Shirley Alexander|1972}}
| children          = 4
}}

'''Sheldon Lee Glashow''' ({{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|ɡ|l|æ|ʃ|oʊ}},<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Glashow|access-date=30 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/glashow|title=Glashow|work=Collins English Dictionary|publisher=HarperCollins|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730111124/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/glashow|url-status=live}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|ɡ|l|æ|ʃ|aʊ}};<ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Glashow,+Sheldon+Lee |title=Glashow, Sheldon Lee |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> born December 5, 1932) is a [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]]-winning [[United States|American]] [[Theoretical physics|theoretical]] [[physicist]]. He is the [[Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering|Metcalf]] Professor of Mathematics and Physics at [[Boston University]], and a [[Eugene Higgins|Eugene Higgins Professor]] of Physics, emeritus, at [[Harvard University]]. Glashow is a member of the board of sponsors for the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]''.

==Birth and education==
Sheldon Glashow was born on December 5, 1932, in [[New York City]], to [[Ashkenazi Jews|Jewish]] immigrants from [[Russian Empire|Russia]], Bella (née Rubin) and Lewis Gluchovsky, a plumber.<ref name="brittanica">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9036986/Sheldon-Glashow Sheldon Glashow – Britannica Encyclopedia]. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-27.</ref> He graduated from [[Bronx High School of Science]] in 1950. Glashow was in the same graduating class as [[Steven Weinberg]], whose own research, independent of Glashow's, would result in Glashow,  Weinberg, and [[Abdus Salam]] sharing the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics (see below).<ref name="nobel-bio">[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/glashow-autobio.html Glashow's autobiography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012223643/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/glashow-autobio.html |date=2007-10-12 }}. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-27.</ref>  Glashow received a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree from [[Cornell University]] in 1954 and a PhD degree in physics from [[Harvard University]] in 1959 under Nobel-laureate physicist [[Julian Schwinger]]. Afterwards, Glashow became a NSF fellow at [[NORDITA]] and met [[Murray Gell-Mann]], who convinced him to become a research fellow at the [[California Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1979/glashow/biographical/ |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Glashow then became an assistant professor at [[Stanford University]] before joining the [[University of California, Berkeley]] where he was an associate professor from 1962 to 1966.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glashow, Sheldon L. |url=https://history.aip.org/phn/11503023.html |access-date=2022-08-11 |website=history.aip.org}}</ref><ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/glashow.html Sheldon Glashow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803044944/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/glashow.html |date=2014-08-03 }}. Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-27.</ref> He joined the Harvard physics department as a professor in 1966, and was named Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics in 1979; he became emeritus in 2000.  Glashow has been a visiting scientist at [[CERN]], and professor at [[Aix-Marseille University]], [[MIT]], [[Brookhaven Laboratory]], [[Texas A&M]], the [[University of Houston]], and [[Boston University]].<ref name="nobel-bio" />

==Research==
In 1961,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Glashow|first=Sheldon L.|date=February 1961|title=Partial-symmetries of weak interactions|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0029558261904692|journal=Nuclear Physics|language=en|volume=22|issue=4|pages=579–588|doi=10.1016/0029-5582(61)90469-2|bibcode=1961NucPh..22..579G|access-date=2020-12-02|archive-date=2021-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227151834/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0029558261904692|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Glashow extended [[electroweak unification]] models due to [[Julian Schwinger|Schwinger]] by including a short range [[neutral current]], the [[W and Z bosons#Z boson|Z<sup>0</sup>]]. The resulting symmetry structure that Glashow proposed, [[SU(2)]] × [[U(1)]], forms the basis of the accepted theory of the [[electroweak]] interactions. For this discovery, Glashow along with [[Steven Weinberg]] and [[Abdus Salam]], was awarded the 1979 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].

In collaboration with [[James Bjorken]], Glashow was the first to predict a fourth quark, the [[charm quark]], in 1964. This was at a time when 4 [[leptons]] had been discovered but only 3 quarks proposed. The development of their work in 1970, the [[GIM mechanism]] showed that the two quark pairs: (d.s), (u,c), would largely cancel out flavor changing neutral currents, which  had been observed experimentally at far lower levels than theoretically predicted on the basis of 3 quarks only. The prediction of the charm quark also removed a technical disaster for any quantum field theory with unequal numbers of quarks and leptons — an [[Anomaly (physics)|anomaly]] — where classical field theory symmetries fail to carry over into the quantum theory.

In 1973,<ref>H. Georgi, S.L. Glashow, "Unity of All Elementary Particle Forces", Phys. Rev. Lett. 32 (1974) 438 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.32.438</ref> Glashow and [[Howard Georgi]] proposed the first [[Grand Unified Theory]]. They discovered how to fit the gauge forces in the [[Standard Model]] into an [[Special unitary group|SU(5) Lie group]], and the quarks and leptons into two simple representations. Their theory qualitatively predicted the general pattern of [[coupling constant]] running, with plausible assumptions, it gave rough mass ratio values between third generation leptons and quarks, and it was the first indication that the law of [[Baryon number]] is inexact, that the [[proton]] is unstable. This work was the foundation for all future unifying work.

Glashow shared the 1977 [[J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize]] with [[Feza Gürsey]].<ref>{{cite book| title= Winners, the blue ribbon encyclopedia of awards | url= https://archive.org/details/winnersblueribbo0000walt | url-access= registration |last=Walter |first=Claire |year=1982 |page= [https://archive.org/details/winnersblueribbo0000walt/page/438 438]|publisher=Facts on File Inc.|isbn=9780871963864 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Gürsey and Glashow share Oppenheimer memorial |journal=Physics Today |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=95 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |date=May 1977 |doi=10.1063/1.3037556 }}</ref>

==Criticism of superstring theory==
Glashow is a skeptic of [[superstring]] theory due to its lack of experimentally testable predictions. He had campaigned to keep string theorists out of the [[Harvard]] physics department, though the campaign failed.<ref name="newyorker">Jim Holt (2006-10-02), [http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/02/061002crat_atlarge "Unstrung"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606234307/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/02/061002crat_atlarge |date=2011-06-06 }}, The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2012-07-27.</ref> About ten minutes into "String's the Thing", the second episode of ''[[The Elegant Universe]]'' TV series, he describes superstring theory as a discipline distinct from physics, saying "...you may call it a tumor, if you will...".<ref>"[T]here ain't no experiment that could be done nor is there any observation that could be made that would say, `You guys are wrong.' The theory is safe, permanently safe." He also said, "Is this a theory of Physics or Philosophy? I ask you" [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/view-glashow.html NOVA interview] </ref>

[[File:PY 101 Energy.jpg|thumb|375px|Professor Glashow's KHC PY 101 Energy class, at Boston University's Kilachand Honors College (Spring 2011)]]

==Personal life==
Glashow is married to Joan Shirley Alexander. They have four children.<ref name="nobel-bio" /> [[Lynn Margulis]] was Joan's sister, making [[Carl Sagan]] his former brother-in-law. [[Daniel Kleitman]], who was another doctoral student of [[Julian Schwinger]], is also his brother-in-law, through Joan's other sister, Sharon.

In 2003, he was one of 22 Nobel Laureates who signed the [[Humanism and Its Aspirations|Humanist Manifesto]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers | title=Notable Signers | publisher=American Humanist Association | work=Humanism and Its Aspirations | access-date=October 2, 2012 | archive-date=October 5, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005105825/http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III/Notable_Signers | url-status=dead }}</ref> Glashow has described himself as a "practising [[atheist]]" and a Democrat.<ref>Sheldon Glashow, Nobel Prize in Physics for the Electroweak Theory . La Vanguardia, 20 June 2017, raed.academy/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sheldon-Lee-Glashow-contraLVeng.pdf.</ref>

Glashow is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President [[George W. Bush]] in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]’s [[Office of Science]], the [[National Science Foundation]], and the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Letter from America's Physics Nobel Laureates|url=https://fire.pppl.gov/nobel_bush_fy08_050808.pdf|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=2021-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030161134/https://fire.pppl.gov/nobel_bush_fy08_050808.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Works==
*''The Charm of Physics'' (1991) {{ISBN|0-88318-708-6}}
*''From Alchemy to Quarks: The Study of Physics as a Liberal Art'' (1994) {{ISBN|0-534-16656-3}}
*''Interactions: A Journey Through the Mind of a Particle Physicist and the Matter of this World'' (1988) {{ISBN|0-446-51315-6}}
*''First Workshop on Grand Unification: New England Center, University of New Hampshire, April 10–12, 1980'' edited with Paul H. Frampton and Asim Yildiz (1980) {{ISBN|0-915692-31-7}}
*''Third Workshop on Grand Unification, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 15–17, 1982'' edited with Paul H. Frampton and Hendrik van Dam (1982) {{ISBN|3-7643-3105-4}}
*"[https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9403001 Desperately Seeking Superstrings?]" with [[Paul Ginsparg]] in ''Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory'' (2008) {{ISBN|978-0-9802114-0-5}}

==Awards and honors==
* [[J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Prize]] (1977)
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1979)
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (1980)<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration|access-date=2020-07-19|archive-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] (2002)<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Sheldon+Lee+Glashow&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-07-08|website=search.amphilsoc.org|archive-date=2021-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185303/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Sheldon+Lee+Glashow&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Neutral current]]
*[[Tadpole (physics)|Tadpole]]
*[[Weak hypercharge]]
*[[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{MathGenealogy |id=105794 |name=Sheldon Lee Glashow }}
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1979 ''Towards a Unified Theory – Threads in a Tapestry''
* [http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/sheldon_lee_glashow.html Sheldon Lee Glashow] on www.nobel-winners.com
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/view-glashow.html Interview with Glashow on Superstrings]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051224133219/http://eraserall.bravehost.com/swq/glashow-autobio.html Contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including inter alia the prediction of the weak neutral current.]
* [http://physics.bu.edu/people/show/47 Sheldon Glashow Boston University Physics Department]
* [http://69.16.229.107/glashow Sheldon Glashow Photos]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://techchannel.att.com/play-video.cfm/2012/9/18/Vernams-Cipher-Nobel-Laureate-Sheldon-Glashow Interview with Glashow About Contemporary Physics and Winning the Nobel Prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002024844/http://techchannel.att.com/play-video.cfm/2012/9/18/Vernams-Cipher-Nobel-Laureate-Sheldon-Glashow |date=2012-10-02 }}
* {{INSPIRE-HEP author}}
* {{Imdb name|nm6007857}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000|state=collapsed}}
{{1979 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glashow, Sheldon Lee}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American physicists]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American humanists]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Boston University faculty]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Jewish American atheists]]
[[Category:Jewish American physicists]]
[[Category:Jewish humanists]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American particle physicists]]
[[Category:People associated with CERN]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:American theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:Jewish Nobel laureates]]