Fellow of the American Physical Society (2004) Sakurai Prize (2014) Galileo Galilei Medal (2023)
Scientific career
Fields
Theoretical Physics, Quantum Field Theory, Supergravity, String Theory
Institutions
Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics, UCLA University of California, Los Angeles
Doctoral advisor
Martin B. Halpern
Zvi Bern (born 17 September 1960) is an American theoretical particle physicist. He is a professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Bern studied physics and mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his doctorate in 1986 in theoretical physics from the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of Martin Halpern.[1][2] Bern's dissertation manuscript can currently be found in Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory's archives, examining "possible nonperturbative continuum regularization schemes for quantum field theory which are based upon the Langevin equation of Parisi and Wu."[3]
Bern developed new methods for the computation of Feynman diagrams that were originally introduced in quantum electrodynamics for the perturbative computation of scattering amplitudes. In more complicated quantum field theories such as Yang–Mills theory or quantum field theories with gravity, the computer calculation of the perturbative evolution using Feynman diagrams quickly reached its limits due to the exponential growth in diagrams. The new theoretical developments of the 1990s and 2000s came in time for a renewed interest in extensive calculations in the context of the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. Bern and colleagues developed twistor-space methods applied to gauge-theory amplitudes.[4] Bern and colleagues developed the method of "generalized unitarity as a means for obtaining loop amplitudes from on-shell tree amplitudes".[5] The method of generalized unitarity provided new insights into the perturbative treatment of N = 8 supergravity and showed that there is a smaller degree of divergence than expected; higher-loop evidence suggested that "N = 8 supergravity has the same degree of divergence as N = 4 super-Yang–Mills theory and is ultraviolet finite in four dimensions".[6] Prior to this, it had been generally assumed that quantum gravitation from three loops resulted in uncontrollable divergences. In 2010, with his students Carrasco and Johansson, Bern found that diagrams for supersymmetric gravitational theories are equivalent to those of two copies of supersymmetric Yang–Mills theories (theories with gluons), which is known as double copy theory. They used a previously found duality between kinematics and color degrees of freedom. Instead of previously around terms, only 10 terms had to be evaluated in 3 loops, and correspondingly in 4 loops around 100 terms versus terms, and in 5 loops around 1000 terms versus terms; furthermore, there were no uncontrollable divergences in three and four loops — such uncontrollable divergences were predicted by the majority of experts in the 1980s and constituted one of the reasons for favoring string theory.
Bern was elected in 2004 a fellow of the American Physical Society.[7] In 2014, he received the Sakurai Prize with David A. Kosower and Lance J. Dixon for "pathbreaking contributions to the calculation of perturbative scattering amplitudes, which led to a deeper understanding of quantum field theory and to powerful new tools for computing QCD processes."[8] In 2023, Bern and his collaborators David A Kosower and Lance J Dixon were awarded Galileo Galilei Medal from Italy’s Instituto Nazionale di Fisica.[9]
Bern's Erdős number is three.[10]
Currently, Bern is the director of the Mani Lal Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCLA, which aims to "provide an exceptional environment for excellence in theoretical physics research".[11]
He was elected a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2024.[12]
^Zvi Bern at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
^Smith, Ella (28 February 2018). "Renowned UC Berkeley physics professor emeritus Martin Halpern dies at 79". The Daily Californian, UC Berkeley newspaper.
^"CONTINUUM REGULARIZATION OF QUANTUM FIELD THEORY" (PDF). Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Archives.
^Bena, Iosif; Bern, Zvi; Kosower, David A. (2005). "Twistor-space recursive formulation of gauge-theory amplitudes". Phys. Rev. D. 71 (4): 045008. arXiv:hep-th/0406133. Bibcode:2005PhRvD..71d5008B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.71.045008. S2CID 119401595.
^Bern, Zvi; Huang, Yu-tin (2011). "Basis of generalized unitarity". Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical. 44 (45): 454003. arXiv:1103.1869. Bibcode:2011JPhA...44S4003B. doi:10.1088/1751-8113/44/45/454003. S2CID 119231853.
^Bern, Zvi; Dixon, Lance J.; Roiban, Radu (2007). "Is N = 8 Supergravity Ultraviolet Finite?". Physics Letters B. 644 (4): 265–271. arXiv:hep-th/0611086. Bibcode:2007PhLB..644..265B. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2006.11.030. S2CID 119532539. arXiv preprint
^"APS Fellow Archive". American Physical Society. (search on year=2004 and institution=University of California, Los Angeles)
^"2014 J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics Recipient, Zvi Bern". American Physical Society website.
ZviBern (born 17 September 1960) is an American theoretical particle physicist. He is a professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bern...
afraid to hide the ugly truth when necessary. It contains many gems". ZviBern wrote, "Zee has an infectious enthusiasm and a remarkable talent for slicing...
automatically leads to gravity scattering amplitudes. It was first written down by ZviBern, John Joseph Carrasco and Henrik Johansson in 2010 and was sometimes known...
that would be the carrier of gravity hasn't been observed! As of 2014, ZviBern concluded that a graviton is simply two gluons bound together; he, further...
Kane of the University of Michigan because of the Higgs boson discovery. ZviBern has won many bets connected to quantum gravity. In 2016 David Gross lost...
theoretical investigation for more than three decades. Roberto Peccei 2014 ZviBern For pathbreaking contributions to the calculation of perturbative scattering...
Drabold (born 1960) Raymond Laflamme (born 1960) Cumrun Vafa (born 1960) ZviBern (born 1960) Stéphane Roux (born 1960) Seth Lloyd (born 1960) William Bialek...
Rabbi Dr Arnost Zvi Ehrman (1914–1976) is best known for his work as editor of the Talmud El Am (cf below). In addition, his contribution on Jewish law...
was an inspirational coordinator of the ghetto's cultural life. Cemach Ben Zvi Feldstein was born in the town of Kudirkos Naumiestis, Suwałki Governorate...
Tehran on November 4, 1979: In Switzerland the Israelis have an Embassy in Bern and a Consulate-General in Zürich which provide cover for Collection Department...
Sunset Park TriStar Pictures / Jersey Films Steve Gomer (director); Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson (screenplay); Rhea Perlman, Fredro Starr...
Ringdal 1501720 1979-03-01 Lørenskog 2015 Norway M title application Har-Zvi, Ronen 2801485 1976-10-13 1995 Israel M Haria, Ravi 415820 1999-02-07 Elstree...
he was frequently mocked by Karl Marx. In a small introduction to David Zvi Hoffmann's posthumous seminal work "Melamed LeHoel", his eldest son Moses...
Martin (1999). "Anisotropies in the CMB" (PDF). In Arisaka, Katsushi; Bern, Zvi (eds.). DPF 99: Proceedings of the Los Angeles Meeting. Division of Particles...
ISBN 0-521-56623-1. Retrieved 13 May 2024. Lentz III 1994, p. 753. "Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Passes Away". Center for Israel Education. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 14 January...
"Beyond the Buzzer: Sixers Jewish CEO Steps Down". The Jewish Exponent. Ganin, Zvi (2005). An Uneasy Relationship: American Jewish Leadership And Israel, 1948-1957...
with a clear Zionist-nationalist structure: A. Dinur, along with Ben-Zvi (Ben-Zvi), established the Palestine-centric approach, which viewed the entire...
1–107. doi:10.1002/0471264180.or066.01. ISBN 978-0-471-26418-7. Rappoport, Zvi; Marek, Ilan (December 17, 2007). The Chemistry of Organozinc Compounds:...
Found at Dan". Biblical Archaeology Review. 20 (2): 26–39. Brettler, Marc Zvi (2005). How to Read the Bible. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0827610019...