John Clive Ward | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 August 1924 London, England |
| Died | 6 May 2000 (aged 75) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Nationality | Australian, British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Known for | Ising model Quantum field theory Ward–Takahashi identity Luttinger–Ward functional Hydrogen bomb |
| Awards | Guthrie Medal (1981) Dirac Medal (UNSW) (1981) Heineman Prize (1982) Hughes Medal (1983) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Particle physics Condensed-matter physics Statistical mechanics |
| Institutions | Institute for Advanced Study Bell Laboratories University of Adelaide University of Maryland University of Miami Carnegie Institute of Technology Johns Hopkins University Victoria University of Wellington Macquarie University |
| Thesis | Some Properties of Elementary Particles (1949) |
| Doctoral advisor | Maurice Pryce |
John Clive Ward, FRS (1 August 1924 – 6 May 2000) was an Anglo-Australian physicist who made significant contributions to quantum field theory, condensed-matter physics, and statistical mechanics. Andrei Sakharov called Ward one of the titans of quantum electrodynamics.
Ward introduced the Ward–Takahashi identity. He was one of the authors of the Standard Model of gauge particle interactions: his contributions were published in a series of papers he co-authored with Abdus Salam. He is also credited with being an early advocate of the use of Feynman diagrams. It has been said that physicists have made use of his principles and developments "often without knowing it, and generally without quoting him."[1] The Ising model was another one of his research interests.
In 1955, Ward was recruited to work at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston. There, he independently derived a version of the Teller–Ulam design, for which he has been called the "father of the British H-bomb".[2]