Ann Elizabeth Nelson (April 29, 1958 – August 4, 2019) was a particle physicist and professor of physics in the Particle Theory Group at the University of Washington from 1994 until her death.[1][2][3] Nelson received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004,[4] and she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011[5] and the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.[6] She was a recipient of the 2018 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, presented annually by the American Physical Society and considered one of the most prestigious prizes in physics.[7]
Education
Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,[8] Nelson earned her Bachelor of Science degree at Stanford University in 1980,[9] and her Ph.D. degree at Harvard University under the supervision of Howard Georgi in 1984.[10]
Career
After a post doctoral fellowship at the Harvard Society of Fellows from 1984-1987, Nelson became an assistant professor at Stanford University in 1987. In 1990 Nelson moved to UC San Diego, and then in 1994 moved for the final time her career to the University of Washington.[11]
Research
Nelson and her collaborators are known for a number of theories, including:
The Nelson–Barr mechanism, a proposed solution to the strong CP problem. The theory was developed independently by Nelson and Stephen Barr in 1984.[12] Nelson was a doctoral student at Harvard at the time.[3]
The theory of spontaneous violation of CP (charge conjugation and parity symmetry), which may explain the origin of the asymmetry observed between matter and anti-matter.[13]
The theory of Bose–Einstein condensation of kaon mesons in dense matter, which predicts strangeness in neutron stars.[14]
The basic mechanism for electroweak baryogenesis, which may explain the origin of matter in the universe.[15]
The theory of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking, which accounts for how supersymmetry at short distances might be compatible with the absence of observed flavor-symmetry violation at long distances.[16]
The little Higgs theory, which may explain why the Higgs boson must be relatively light.[17]
The theory of "accelerons", which relates neutrino masses to the cosmological dark energy responsible for the relatively recent acceleration of the expansion of the universe.[18]
Personal life
Nelson was married to David B. Kaplan, also a professor of physics at the University of Washington. She had been an active member of The Mountaineers club in Seattle since 1994. She had two children.[19]
Nelson was an activist for equal rights throughout her life. In 1980, when graduating from Stanford University, she and her husband wore colored ribbons to protest Stanford's investments in Apartheid South Africa. In 2017, she led physics lectures in Palestine to support social justice and promote diversity in science fields around the world.[3] She advocated for greater representation of women in physics research.[20]
Death
On August 4, 2019, while hiking Iron Cap Mountain in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness with her husband and two friends, Nelson lost her footing and died after falling into a rocky gully. Her husband and fellow hikers were rescued on August 4 by a Spokane helicopter crew. Her body was recovered on August 6.[2][21][22]
References
McClain, Dylan (August 26, 2019). "Ann Nelson, Expert on Particle Physics, Is Dead at 61". The New York Times.
Fields, Asia (August 6, 2019). "UW professor Ann Nelson remembered as brilliant physicist, advocate for diversity in science". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda (August 22, 2019). "Ann Nelson Took On the Biggest Problems in Physics". Quanta Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-08-26.
"Guggenheim Fellows Directory". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
"Ann E. Nelson - Member Directory". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-01-05. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
"Ann E. Nelson - Member Directory". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
"2018 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, Ann Nelson". American Physical Society. 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-08-06. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
McClain, Dylan Loeb (2019-08-26). "Ann Nelson, Expert on Particle Physics, is Dead at 61". The New York Times.
"Ann E. Nelson - Profile". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
"Harvard University Department of Physics Newsletter" (PDF). Harvard University. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-04-08. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
"Nelson, Ann Elizabeth - Profile - INSPIRE-HEP". inspirehep.net. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
Dine, Michael; Leigh, Robert G.; Kagan, Alex (1993-09-01). "Supersymmetry and the Nelson-Barr mechanism". Physical Review D. 48 (5): 2214–2223. arXiv:hep-ph/9303296. Bibcode:1993PhRvD..48.2214D. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.48.2214. ISSN 0556-2821. PMID 10016458. S2CID 15832613.
Nelson, Ann (1984). "Naturally weak CP violation". Physics Letters B. 136 (5–6): 387–391. Bibcode:1984PhLB..136..387N. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(84)92025-2.
Kaplan, D.B.; Nelson, A.E. (1988). "Kaon condensation in dense matter". Nuclear Physics A. 479: 273–284. Bibcode:1988NuPhA.479..273K. doi:10.1016/0375-9474(88)90442-3.
Cohen, A G; Kaplan, D B; Nelson, A E (1993). "Progress in Electroweak Baryogenesis". Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. 43 (1): 27–70. arXiv:hep-ph/9302210. Bibcode:1993ARNPS..43...27C. doi:10.1146/annurev.ns.43.120193.000331. ISSN 0163-8998. S2CID 51835558.
Dine, Michael; Nelson, Ann E. (1993-08-01). "Dynamical supersymmetry breaking at low energies". Physical Review D. 48 (3): 1277–1287. arXiv:hep-ph/9303230. Bibcode:1993PhRvD..48.1277D. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.48.1277. ISSN 0556-2821. PMID 10016362. S2CID 13301753.
Arkani-Hamed, Nima; Cohen, Andrew G; Katz, Emanuel; Nelson, Ann E (2002-07-12). "The Littlest Higgs". Journal of High Energy Physics. 2002 (7): 034. arXiv:hep-ph/0206021. Bibcode:2002JHEP...07..034A. doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2002/07/034. ISSN 1029-8479. S2CID 2845603.
"Two biggest physics breakthroughs of the last decade are integrally linked through dark energy and "acceleron"". Phys.org. July 27, 2004. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
"Tragic death of Professor Ann Nelson | Department of Physics | University of Washington". phys.washington.edu. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
Nelson, Ann (May 1, 2017). "Commentary: Diversity in physics: Are you part of the problem?". Physics Today. 70 (5): 10–11. Bibcode:2017PhT....70e..10N. doi:10.1063/PT.3.3536.
"Remembering Mountaineer Ann Nelson". The Mountaineers. August 6, 2019. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
Sokol, Chad (August 8, 2019). "Spokane helicopter crew rescues three hikers in Cascades after death of fourth hiker, a UW professor". The Spokesman-Review. Archived from the original on 2019-08-08.
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