Mirza Abdul Baqi Beg
(20 September 1934 ? 30 January 1990), also known as
MAB Beg
or
Baqi Beg
, was a
Pakistani
theoretical physicist
and a professor of physics at the
Rockefeller University
whose contributions were vital in
string theory
and
particle physics
.
[1]
[2]
He is credited mainly with his role in laying down the theoretical foundations of the
quark
theory as well as development of the
SU(6)
model.
[3]
Biography
[
edit
]
Beg was born in
Etawah
,
Uttar Pradesh
in
India
on 20 September 1934.
: xv
[1]
Following the
partition
of India in 1947, his family migrated to Pakistan, only to be settled in
Karachi
,
Sindh
,
Pakistan
.
: xv
[1]
After finishing school in Karachi, Beg went to attend the
University of Sindh
in
Hyderabad
, graduated with
BSc
with honors in
Physics
in 1951.
[4]
Upon returning to Karachi, Beg attended the
Karachi University
where he graduated with his
MSc
in
Mathematics
with area focused on the
applied application
in 1954.
: xvi
[1]
Beg went to
United States
for his doctoral studies, attending the
University of Pittsburgh
, where he was conferred with
PhD
in nuclear physics under Dr. Philip M. Stehl in 1958.
[5]
Before moving to
England
, Beg's early work was focused toward
nuclear physics
, and got interested in theoretical physics after accepting his postdoctoral fellowship (1958-1960) at the
University of Birmingham
, working under Sir
Rudolf Peierls
at the department of physics, followed by his second post-doc at the
Brookhaven National Laboratory
at
Upton
,
New York
. His work at BNL earned him a membership at the
Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton, New Jersey (1962?64), where he spent two highly-productive years in developing the foundations of valuable work he later carried out.
He joined the faculty of physics at the
Rockefeller University
in 1964 and was promoted to full Professor in 1968. Soon after his appointment, beginning with 1965 he became a consultant at the
Brookhaven National Laboratory
(serving on its High Energy Advisory Committee from 1975 to 1978, which took decisions on the selection of experiments to be conducted at the laboratory.) He also contributed significantly to other global particle physics endeavors, most notably, at the
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
and at the
European Organization for Nuclear Research
. He was appointed as a fellow of the
American Physical Society
and the
New York Academy of Sciences
, in addition to recognition by the
American Institute of Physics
.
[6]
Beg made a number of contributions to the then pioneering efforts in the structure of elementary particles and the development of the
quark
theory, especially contributing to the important symmetries in physics which underlie our understanding of the elementary particles. His important work lies in the domain of
group theory
, especially in the
SU(6)
model. He was a driving force and inspiration for generations of particle physicists.
[
citation needed
]
Beg was a bona fide and valuable citizen scientist and believed in science as a tool for human development and uplift. "He held the view that science, in particular fundamental science, is the best catalyst for inducing far reaching socio-political changes in contemporary societies and that it provides a universal opportunity to make a lasting contribution to human knowledge.", based on which The Emerging Nations Science Foundation (ESNF), a non-governmental organization based in Trieste, Italy, has constituted a prize in his memory, named the "ENSF Prize in Physics (In memoriam M.A.B. Beg)".
[7]
He died peacefully at his home in Manhattan, New York, on 30 January 1990, survived by his wife Nancie.
[
citation needed
]
An obituary was published in
New York Times
on 1 February 1990.
[
citation needed
]
A memorial was published in his memory (widely known as The "M.A.B. Beg Memorial Volume") in 1991 by World Scientific, which includes several papers written by him as well as other prominent particle physicists.
[8]
Notes
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]
References
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