Pasadena, Calif., University Professor Wins Nobel Prize

Oct. 6–PASADENA, Calif. — A Caltech professor and two other American scientists have won the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics for a 31-year-old discovery that put science on the road to explaining all the forces found in nature, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday.

With his first published journal article in 1973, David Politzer, 55, now a professor of theoretical physics at the institute, explained a new, counter-intuitive property that showed how the smallest units of matter, known as quarks, stick together to form neutrons and protons. At that time, he was a graduate student at Harvard University.

On Tuesday morning, Politzer acted the part of the reclusive physicist, preferring not to speak at or even attend the press conference in his honor at Caltech.

“He is shy,” said Jill Perry, the institute’s director of media relations. He wants to deal with the announcement “his own way” she said, “with family and friends.”

But Politzer, who came to Caltech in 1975, hasn’t always avoided the spotlight. In 1989, Roland Joffe cast him as physicist Robert Serber in the film “Fat Man and Little Boy,” which told the story of the Manhattan Project and starred Paul Newman.

Caltech president, David Baltimore, himself a Nobel laureate, attended the conference and said Politzer had been recognized “as one of the seminal figures in the history of physics.”

Another Caltech physics professor, Mark Wise, characterized Politzer’s discovery as “one of the pillars of the Standard Model,” the current theory used to describe the way fundamental particles interact.

Politzer, a New York City native, presented a calculation in his journal study showing the attractive force between quarks becomes weaker when close and stronger when they move apart. If the quarks get close enough, Politzer showed, they behave as nearly free particles, a phenomenon called “asymptotic freedom.”

The cohesive force, known as the strong interaction, can be thought of as a rubber band. When the elastic pulls apart, the force becomes stronger and decreases when relaxed.

The discovery helps explain everyday phenomena and marks progress according to the Academy.

Of Politzer’s reaction to the announcement, Baltimore said, “This had been expected … He wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with surprise. On the other hand, I think he was overwhelmed with gratification.”

Wise described Politzer, who is divorced with two sons, as a modest person and a deep thinker who is excited about science. “He’s a regular guy,” he said, “except he’s a lot smarter than most of us.”

Baltimore added that Politzer is extremely devoted to teaching freshmen physics. An audience member at the conference said Politzer has been known to play the electric guitar for his freshmen.

Politzer will share the $1.36 million prize with two researchers who came to the same conclusion independently at Princeton University David Gross, now of UC Santa Barbara, and Frank Wilczek, now of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They will accept their award Dec. 8 in Stockholm.

Politzer joins a list of 29 other Nobel Prize-winning Caltech faculty members and alumni. Such scientific giants as Linus Pauling and Richard Feynman hold spots on that list.

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