François Englert

François, Baron Englert (French: [ɑ̃ɡlɛʁ]; born 6

November 1932) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and François Englert
2013 Nobel Prize laureate.

Englert is professor emeritus at the Université libre de

Bruxelles (ULB), where he is a member of the Service
de Physique Théorique. He is also a Sackler Professor
by Special Appointment in the School of Physics and
Astronomy at Tel Aviv University and a member of the
Institute for Quantum Studies at Chapman University
in California. He was awarded the 2010 J. J. Sakurai
Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics (with Gerry
Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, Tom Kibble, Peter Higgs, and
Robert Brout), the Wolf Prize in Physics in 2004 (with
Brout and Higgs) and the High Energy and Particle François Englert, 2007
Prize of the European Physical Society (with Brout and Born 6 November 1932
Higgs) in 1997 for the mechanism which unifies short Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium[3]
and long range interactions by generating massive Alma mater Free University of Brussels
gauge vector bosons.
Known for Higgs mechanism
Englert has made contributions in statistical physics, Higgs boson
quantum field theory, cosmology, string theory and Spontaneous symmetry breaking
supergravity.[4] He is the recipient of the 2013 Prince Awards Francqui Prize (1982)
of Asturias Award in technical and scientific research, Wolf Prize in Physics (2004)
together with Peter Higgs and the CERN. Sakurai Prize (2010)
Nobel Prize in Physics (2013)
Englert was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, Scientific career
together with Peter Higgs for the discovery of the
Fields Theoretical physics
Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism.[5]
Institutions Université libre de Bruxelles
Tel Aviv University[1][2]
Early life
François Englert is a Holocaust survivor.[6] He was born in a Belgian Jewish family. During the German
occupation of Belgium in World War II, he had to conceal his Jewish identity and live in orphanages and
children's homes in the towns of Dinant, Lustin, Stoumont and, finally, Annevoie-Rouillon. These towns
were eventually liberated by the US Army.

Academic career
He graduated as an electromechanical engineer in 1955 from the Free University of Brussels (ULB)
where he received his PhD in physical sciences in 1959. From 1959 until 1961, he worked at Cornell
University, first as a research associate of Robert Brout and then as assistant professor. He then returned
to the ULB, where he became a university professor and was joined there by Robert Brout who, in 1980,
with Englert coheaded the theoretical physics group. In 1998 Englert became professor emeritus. In 1984
Englert was first appointed as a Sackler Professor by Special Appointment in the School of Physics and
Astronomy at Tel-Aviv University. Englert joined Chapman University's Institute for Quantum Studies in
2011, where he serves as a distinguished visiting professor.

Brout–Englert–Higgs–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism
[7]Brout and Englert showed in 1964[8] that gauge vector fields, abelian and non-abelian, could acquire
mass if empty space were endowed with a particular type of structure that one encounters in material
systems. Focusing on the failure of the Goldstone theorem for gauge fields,[9] Higgs reached essentially
the same result.[10] A third paper on the subject was written later in the same year by Gerald Guralnik, C.
R. Hagen, and Tom Kibble.[11] The three papers written on this boson discovery by Higgs, Englert and
Brout, and Guralnik, Hagen, Kibble were each recognized as milestone papers for this discovery by
Physical Review Letters 50th anniversary celebration.[12] While each of these famous papers took similar
approaches, the contributions and differences between the 1964 PRL symmetry breaking papers is
noteworthy.

To illustrate the structure, consider a ferromagnet which is composed of atoms each equipped with a tiny
magnet. When these magnets are lined up, the inside of the ferromagnet bears a strong analogy to the way
empty space can be structured. Gauge vector fields that are sensitive to this structure of empty space can
only propagate over a finite distance. Thus, they mediate short range interactions and acquire mass. Those
fields that are not sensitive to the structure propagate unhindered. They remain massless and are
responsible for the long range interactions. In this way, the mechanism accommodates within a single
unified theory both short and long-range interactions.

Brout and Englert, Higgs, and Gerald Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, and Tom Kibble introduced as agent of the
vacuum structure a scalar field (most often called the Higgs field) which many physicists view as the
agent responsible for the masses of fundamental particles. Brout and Englert also showed that the
mechanism may remain valid if the scalar field is replaced by a more structured agent such as a fermion
condensate. Their approach led them to conjecture that the theory is renormalizable.[13] The eventual
proof of renormalizability, a major achievement of twentieth century physics, is due to Gerardus 't Hooft
and Martinus Veltman who were awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize for this work. The Brout–Englert–Higgs–
Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble mechanism is the building stone of the electroweak theory of elementary
particles and laid the foundation of a unified view of the basic laws of nature.

Major awards
1978 First Prize in the International Gravity Contest (with R. Brout and E. Gunzig), awarded
by the Gravity Research Foundation for the essay "The Causal Universe".[14]
1982 Francqui Prize, awarded by the Francqui Foundation once every four years in exact
sciences "For his contribution to the theoretical understanding of spontaneous symmetry
 breaking in the physics of fundamental interactions, where, with Robert Brout, he was the
first to show that spontaneous symmetry breaking in gauge theories gives mass to the
gauge particles, for his extensive contributions in other domains, such as solid state
physics, statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, general relativity and cosmology, for the
originality and the fundamental importance of these achievements".
1997 High Energy and Particle Physics Prize (with R. Brout and P.W. Higgs), awarded by
the European Physical Society "For formulating for the first time a self-consistent theory of
charged massive vector bosons which became the foundation of the electroweak theory of
elementary particles".[15]
2004 Wolf Prize in Physics (with R. Brout and P.W. Higgs), awarded by the Wolf Foundation
"For pioneering work that has led to the insight of mass generation, whenever a local gauge
symmetry is realized asymmetrically in the world of sub-atomic particles".
2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics (with Guralnik, Hagen, Kibble,
Higgs, and Brout) awarded by The American Physical Society "For elucidation of the
properties of spontaneous symmetry breaking in four-dimensional relativistic gauge theory
and of the mechanism for the consistent generation of vector boson masses".[16]
By Royal Decree of 8 July 2013 François Englert was ennobled a baron by King Albert II of
Belgium.
2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Peter Higgs "for the theoretical discovery of a
mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic
particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted
fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron
Collider".[5]
2013 Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research (with Peter Higgs and
CERN) "for the theoretical prediction and experimental detection of the Higgs boson".[17]

See also
List of Jewish Nobel laureates

References
1. Tel Aviv U. affiliated prof. who is a Holocaust survivor wins Nobel for physics (http://www.jpo
st.com/International/Tel-Aviv-U-affiliated-prof-and-Holocaust-survivor-shares-Nobel-for-physi
cs-328171), The Jerusalem Post, Danielle Ziri, 10/08/2013
2. Tel Aviv University professor shares Nobel for physics (http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/
1.551239), Haaretz, 8 October 2013
3. "CV" (https://web.archive.org/web/20141222140222/http://www.francquifoundation.be/nl/Ra
pport%20Jury%20Englert%20nl.htm). Francquifoundation.be. 17 April 1982. Archived from
the original (http://www.francquifoundation.be/nl/Rapport%20Jury%20Englert%20nl.htm) on
22 December 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
4. Publication list (http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~fenglert/publi.pdf) Archived (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20070708140247/http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~fenglert/publi.pdf) 8 July 2007 at
the Wayback Machine
5. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013" (https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureat
es/2013/press.pdf) (PDF) (Press release). Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 8 October
2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
6. "USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Francois Englert - Collections Search -
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum" (http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/vh
a42758). collections.ushmm.org.
 7. Kibble, Tom W. B. (2009). "Higgs–Brout–Englert–Guralnik–Hagen–Kibble Mechanism on
Scholarpedia" (https://doi.org/10.4249%2Fscholarpedia.6441). Scholarpedia. 4 (1).
Scholarpedia.org: 6441. Bibcode:2009SchpJ...4.6441K (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2
009SchpJ...4.6441K). doi:10.4249/scholarpedia.6441 (https://doi.org/10.4249%2Fscholarpe
dia.6441).
8. Englert, F.; Brout, R. (1964). "Broken Symmetry and the Mass of Gauge Vector Mesons" (htt
ps://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.321). Phys. Rev. Lett. 13 (9): 321–323.
Bibcode:1964PhRvL..13..321E (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964PhRvL..13..321E).
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.13.321 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.321).
9. P. W. Higgs (1964). "Broken symmetries, massless particles and gauge fields". Physics
Letters. 12 (2): 132–133. Bibcode:1964PhL....12..132H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1
964PhL....12..132H). doi:10.1016/0031-9163(64)91136-9 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0031-
9163%2864%2991136-9)..
10. P. W. Higgs (1964). "Broken Symmetries and the Masses of Gauge Bosons" (https://doi.org/
10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.508). Phys. Rev. Lett. 13 (16): 508–509.
Bibcode:1964PhRvL..13..508H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964PhRvL..13..508H).
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.13.508 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.508)..
11. Guralnik, G.; Hagen, C.; Kibble, T. (1964). "Global Conservation Laws and Massless
Particles" (https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.585). Physical Review Letters. 13
(20): 585. Bibcode:1964PhRvL..13..585G (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1964PhRvL..1
3..585G). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.13.585 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.13.58
5).
12. "Physical Review Letters - 50th Anniversary Milestone Papers" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20100110134128/http://prl.aps.org/50years/milestones). Prl.aps.org. Archived from the
original (http://prl.aps.org/50years/milestones#1964) on 10 January 2010. Retrieved
8 October 2013.
13. Fundamental Problems in Elementary Particle Physics, Proceedings of the 14th Solvay
Conference, University of Brussels, 2–7 October 1967 (John Wiley, New York, 1968) page
18.
14. "Gravity Research Foundation Awards" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070929022056/htt
p://www.gravityresearchfoundation.org/winners_year.html#98).
Gravityresearchfoundation.org. Archived from the original (http://www.gravityresearchfounda
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15. "EPS High Energy Prize Laureates" (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213835/http://w
ww.eps.org/activities/eps-prizes/activities/eps-prizes/high-energy-and-particle-physics-priz
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16. "American Physical Society - J. J. Sakurai Prize Winners" (http://www.aps.org/units/dpf/awar
ds/sakurai.cfm). Aps.org. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
17. "Peter Higgs, François Englert and European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN:
Prince of Asturias Award for Technical & Scientific Research 2013" (http://www.fpa.es/en/pri
ncess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2013-peter-higgs-franois-englert-and-cern.html?texto=a
cta&especifica=0). Princess of Asturias Foundation. 29 October 2013. Retrieved
25 September 2018.

External links
Quotations related to François Englert at Wikiquote
François Englert's personal webpage (http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/physth/people_FEngler
t.html)
François Englert (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/887) on Nobelprize.org
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