【讀者分享 🎬⚛️】 回應《奧本海默》對談及文章：哪些未獲獎科學家值得諾貝爾獎？ (Patreon)

After watching this interview, it brought to mind a discussion about exceptional scientists who, despite their brilliance, have not won Nobel Prizes. Two such examples are Edward Witten and Freeman Dyson, both affiliated with the IAS in Princeton.

Freeman Dyson was an unconventional physicist. He moved to the US for postgraduate study at Cornell after the WWII. He then moved to the IAS and returned to England in 1949. During his stay as a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, Dyson formulated groundbreaking work that demonstrated the equivalence between Richard Feynman's approach to quantum electrodynamics (QED) and the earlier mathematical calculations by Julian Schwinger and Shinichiro Tomonaga. The independent efforts of Feynman, Schwinger, and Tomonaga on QED earned them the Nobel Prize in 1965. Dyson's work held immense significance as it showcased the mathematical formulation of QED using Feynman's techniques and successfully resolved the issue of "renormalization."

In 1951, despite not having a doctorate, Dyson secured a faculty position at Cornell University. His argument persuaded Robert Oppenheimer, who then recognized the equivalence between Feynman's theory and that of Schwinger and Tomonaga. Impressed by this accomplishment, Oppenheimer, who was the director of IAS at the time, offered Dyson a lifetime appointment at the institute. Dyson himself recalled that Oppenheimer made this offer as a result of “proving him wrong.” Dyson accepted the offer and continued to publish innovative papers throughout his career, delving into various topics, including the hypothetical detection of gravitons.

In addition to physics, Dyson made contributions to various branches of mathematics, including topology, analysis, number theory, and random matrices. Notably, a mathematician presented a conjecture in 1973 concerning the distribution of zeros of the Riemann zeta function, which resembled work done by Dyson in mathematical physics.

Reflecting on his own approach, Dyson remarked in 2009 that he believed winning a Nobel Prize often required a long attention span and dedicating oneself to a deep and important problem for at least ten years—a style of work that did not align with his own.

Edward Witten, widely regarded as “the smartest living physicist,” plays a major role in the development of superstring theory, a prominent theory of quantum gravity. His exceptional command of mathematics and profound physical insights often lead to exploration of new research directions and the discovery of deep mathematical theorems.

Witten's academic journey followed an unconventional path. Initially, he pursued a BA degree at Brandeis University, majoring in history and minoring in linguistics. Displaying interests in journalism and politics, he even contributed articles to publications like The New Republic and The Nation during the late 1960s. In 1972, he dedicated six months to working on George McGovern's presidential campaign.

After a brief stint as an economics graduate student at the University of Michigan, Witten decided to return to academia. He first enrolled in applied mathematics at Princeton University in 1973. He then shifted his interest to physics, eventually obtaining his Ph.D. in physics in 1976 under the guidance of David Gross, a theoretical physicist who won the 2004 Nobel Prize.

Witten has made remarkable contributions in the fields of quantum gravity, string theory, and quantum field theory (QFT). His exceptional achievements have garnered him numerous awards throughout his career. Notably, Witten holds the distinction of being the first and only physicist thus far to receive the esteemed Fields Medal, one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics. This recognition was bestowed upon him for his profound mathematical insights applied to physics, including the utilization of superstring theory concepts to prove the positive energy theorem in general relativity. Previously, mathematicians Shing-Tung Yau and Richard Schoen had proved this theorem using variational methods, albeit in a more intricate manner.

Despite these achievements, superstring theory has yet to produce testable predictions, and due to current technological limitations, significant breakthroughs in the near future seem unlikely. Nobel Prizes are rarely awarded to physicists solely for theoretical work, no matter how elegant, without experimental confirmation.

These examples underscore how even geniuses like Witten and Dyson can encounter challenges in winning Nobel Prizes, whether due to personality, research style, or the absence of experimental validation for their groundbreaking theories.

▶️ 陳志宏博士對談《奧本海默》（一）量子力學的顛覆性，究竟在於哪裏？ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMPMKrNEC2I

▶️ 陳志宏博士對談《奧本海默》：（二）科學、藝術、音樂、文學、社科、政治都在革命：奧本海默是Renaissance Man，還是 Alpha Male？
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfpeawzzbkc