Martinus J. G. Veltman

About Martinus J. G. Veltman

Who is it?: Theoretical Physicist
Birth Day: June 27, 1931
Birth Place: Waalwijk, Netherlands, Dutch
Birth Sign: Cancer
Alma mater: Utrecht University
Awards: Nobel Prize in physics (1999)
Fields: Physics
Institutions: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Utrecht University
Doctoral students: Gerardus 't Hooft Peter van Nieuwenhuizen Bernard de Wit

Martinus J. G. Veltman Net Worth

Martinus J. G. Veltman was born on June 27, 1931 in Waalwijk, Netherlands, Dutch, is Theoretical Physicist. Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman is a Dutch theoretical physicist, known for his work on renormalization of Yang–Mills theories. Born in early 1930s in the ancient city of Waalwijk in Southern Netherland, he passed out from school with very low grades and then entered the University of Utrecht with Physics because medium level technical schools would not accept him. The scenario at Utrecht was also equally bad; there was no good teacher and the lectures were uninspiring. Ultimately, he took five years to clear his candidaats exam and after spending few years doing petty jobs, he finally earned his PhD at the age of thirty-two. In the same year he joined SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford and developed a computer program for symbolic manipulation of mathematical equations called Schoonschip. Much later, while working at the University of Utrecht with his graduate student Gerardus ’t Hooft, he used this program to provide the required mathematical basis for the electroweak theory. The work later earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics. Although he spent the last part of his working life at the University of Michigan he came to Netherland after his retirement and now lives at Bilthoven.
Martinus J. G. Veltman is a member of Scientists

💰Martinus J. G. Veltman Net worth: $1.5 Million

Biography/Timeline

1931

Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman was born in Waalwijk, Netherlands on 27 June 1931. His father was the head of the local primary school. Three of his father's siblings were primary school teachers. His mother's father was a contractor and also ran a café. He was the fourth child in a family with six children. He started studying mathematics and physics at Utrecht University in 1948.

1955

His research career advanced when he moved to Utrecht to work under Leon Van Hove in 1955. He received his MSc degree in 1956, after which he was drafted into military Service for two years, returning in February 1959. Van Hove then hired him as a doctoral researcher, even though he was now 27 years old. He obtained his PhD degree in theoretical physics in 1963 and became professor at Utrecht University in 1966.

1960

In 1960, Van Hove became Director of the theory division at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, the European High Energy laboratory. Veltman followed him there in 1961. Meanwhile, in 1960, he married his wife Anneke, who gave birth to their daughter Hélène in the Netherlands, before moving to Geneva to live with Martinus. Hélène followed in her father's footsteps and in due time completed her particle physics thesis with Mary Gaillard at Berkeley, though she now works in the financial industry in London.

1963

Veltman was closely involved in the 1963 CERN neutrino experiment, analyzing images as they were generated by the detectors. When no spectacular events came out, enthusiasm waned, and after a while Veltman and Bernardini were the only ones analyzing the images. As a result, Veltman became the spokesman for the group at the Brookhaven Conference in 1963.

1971

In 1971, Gerardus 't Hooft, who was completing his PhD under the supervision of Veltman, renormalized Yang–Mills theory. They showed that if the symmetries of Yang–Mills theory were to be realized in the spontaneously broken mode, referred to as the Higgs mechanism, then Yang–Mills theory can be renormalized. Renormalization of Yang–Mills theory is a major achievement of twentieth century physics.

1980

In 1980, Veltman became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1981, Veltman left Utrecht University for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

1999

Eventually, he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1999 with 't Hooft, "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics". Veltman and 't Hooft joined in the celebrations at Utrecht University when the prize was awarded.

2003

In 2003, Veltman published a book about particle physics for a broad audience, entitled Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics.