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News from ICTP 93 - Features - S O Lundqvist
Stig Lundqvist, a key figure in ICTP's history, died on 6 April after a lengthy battle with diabetes. Friends of Stig reminisce about this unique individual, who left an indelible mark on science and ICTP.
Philip W. Anderson
Elias Burstein
Hilda Cerdeira
Praveen Chaudhari
Chi-Wei Lung
J. Robert Schrieffer
Alf Sjolander
Erio Tosatti
Yu Lu
Joyful Intellectual
I knew Stig Lundqvist from the time he became a frequent visitor
to the University of Pennsylvania during the 1960s, where my old,
really old, friends Eli Burstein (we knew each other during the
war) and then Bob Schrieffer, were. But I must admit he was only
an acquaintance. I began to appreciate Stig as a true friend and
a force in the community in June 1973, at a Nobel symposium, which
he organised at a country estate near Gothenburg, Sweden. That's
where I first experienced the good humour and the open, welcoming
hospitality of Stig and his wife. The meeting was wonderful, the
cliché phrase for it nowadays is "magical." But
it really was magical for me. Stig, through the Nobel committee,
provided a beautiful milieu and great hospitality, and the Lundqvists,
with the help of John Wilkins, brought together the right people
and the right physics at the right time. It was when the He3 story
was just breaking and the renormalization group was finally ready
for a set of summary discussions by Ken Wilson and others. Walter
Kohn was to talk about local density approximnation (LDA), and
Seb Doniach about the x-ray-edge problem.
What I didn't know then and only learned later was the great effort
Stig had-and would continue to-put forth for the condensed matter
community in breaking the resistance of traditionalists on the
Nobel committee to the new strains of condensed matter theory-efforts
that brought condensed matter to its rightful place within physics
and ultimately led to a series of Nobel prizes in the 1970s and
later, of which I was an eventual beneficiary. If I had known
this, it might, in fact, have ruined the enjoyment of the meeting
for me: I still thought of the Nobel committee as some clutch
of grizzled old elves in Uppsala, not real people like Stig, whom
you could talk to and have a drink with.
The next time I had close contact with Stig was under the best
possible circumstances, in December 1977, when I was fortunate
enough to receive the Nobel Prize. Stig was again a marvellous
host, exuding joy and good fellowship and giving you a genuine
sense that he was as happy about the whole thing as you were.
Thereafter, through the years, bumping into the joyful and beneficent
influence that Stig exerted on all those around him-despite a
deterioration in health that prevented his full participation
in my next formal visit to Gothenburg and Stockholm in 1991. Above
all, Stig was a wonderful person who took immense pleasure in
doing wonderful things for other people. He was the embodiment
of openness and goodwill-a person who derived unselfish pleasure
from the accomplishments of his fellow scientists and his fellow
men. He shall be missed.
Philip W. Anderson
Nobel Laureate 1977
Joseph Henry Professor Emeritus of Physics
Princeton University
Department of Physics
Joseph Henry Laboratories
Princeton
USA
Friend
Stig was a devoted friend and colleague, and a warm human being
with a wide range of interests and many talents: He was a jazz
musician with a deep appreciation of classical music--he played
the trumpet and arranged music for a jazz group as an undergraduate;
he was a creative chef specializing in fish dishes but, as he
often remarked, second in culinary talent to his sister Kersti;
he was a superb theoretical condensed matter physicist well-versed
in other areas of physics, making him a particularly effective
member and chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee in Physics; and
he was a creative organiser of international conferences, symposia
and advanced summer schools, enabling him to spark interactions
among physicists worldwide. In 1990, when Stig reached the age
of 65, after a long and distinguished career of service to ICTP
and full retirement from Chalmers University of Technology in
Gothenburg, Sweden, regulations made it uncertain whether Stig
would have to retire as head of ICTP's condensed matter physics
programme. Praveen Chaudhari, Bob Schrieffer and I were at ICTP
that summer for the symposium on Frontiers in Condensed Matter
Physics, organised in Stig's honour on the occasion of his 65th
birthday. We met with Abdus Salam to speak on Stig's behalf, emphasising
the important contributions that Stig had made and would continue
to make as head of the programme. Salam agreed to renew Stig's
appointment. Moreover, in full appreciation of Stig's many contributions,
he decided to award Stig a special Dirac Medal and to commit US$5,000
for a lecture series in Stig's honour to be held jointly at Chalmers
University and ICTP. Stig received the Dirac Medal at the symposium.
In 1996, an Adriatico Research Conference on Contemporary Concepts
in Condensed Matter Physics was held in Gothenburg on the occasion
of Stig's 70th birthday. Stig, suffering from diabetes for many
years and confined to a wheel chair, was honoured by his many
students and physicists from all over the world. ICTP director
Miguel Virasoro, who attended the conference, expressed appreciation
for Stig's contributions to the success of the Centre's condensed
matter physics programme and appointed Stig a distinguished ICTP
scientist emeritus. In July 1999, ICTP again honoured Stig by
launching the "Stig Lundqvist Research Conference on the
Advancing Frontiers in Condensed Matter Physics," which will
be held biennially. My association with Stig during the past four
decades has enriched my professional and personal life immeasurably.
I will deeply miss him.
Elias Burstein
Mary Amanda Wood Professor of Physics Emeritus
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
USA
Entrepreneur
Foresight was one of Stig's most striking characteristics. As
chairman of the ICTP Scientific Council in the mid 1980s, Stig,
with the support of Abdus Salam, expanded the scope of ICTP's
annual summer workshops on condensed matter physics by adding
the Adriatico Research Conferences. The intent was to discuss
exciting and novel ideas in ways that scientists unacquainted
with a particular field could understand. The first Adriatico
Research Conference on Quantum Chaos, which was organised by Giulio
Casati and Martin Gutzwiller, took place in June 1986. At the
same time, Stig also inspired a new series of events in nonlinear
dynamics, and then convinced Mario Tosi and Norman March to run
the condensed matter physics group's spring college on condensed
matter physics focusing on order and chaos in nonlinear systems.
The conference and college took place simultaneously providing
a synergism that helped elevate the presence of the Centre in
these two emerging fields. My first encounter with Stig and the
Centre came during the latter activity. I was impressed by the
interest that Stig gave to everyone's inquiries and concerns (at
the time, he not only headed the ICTP Scientific Council but presided
over the Nobel Prize Committee in Physics in Sweden). I returned
to the Centre for a lengthier stay in summer 1988. At the time,
Stig was thinking of organising a conference to celebrate the
Centre's 25th anniversary and he was looking for a person to help
him. I was lucky to be the one he chose. What ensued was one of
the most exciting summers in my career. Hours--indeed days--were
spent discussing the topics we should cover and the people we
should invite, all within the context of looking to the future
as well as the past and using the occasion both to celebrate how
far ICTP had come and examine where the Centre should go from
here. The conference proved a success. Almost a decade later,
Abdus Salam's son, Umar, noted at the Abdus Salam Memorial Meeting
in November 1997 that the anniversary event was one of the happiest
moments in his father's long and memorable career. But such happiness
was matched by growing sadness: During this period, Stig's long-term
battle with diabetes began to take its toll. Poor health sometimes
forced him to miss talks given by conference speakers whom he
had carefully chosen, as well as some of the condensed matter
physics advisory committee meetings where the agendas of the Adriatico
Research Conferences were finalised. His absence left a void in
our discussions and evaluations that no one could fill. In 1992,
at the end of the Conference on Frontiers in Condensed Matter
Physics, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of condensed matter
physics activities at ICTP, Stig resigned as chairman of the Scientific
Council. It marked the end of an era for both him and ICTP.
Hilda Cerdeira
Staff Member, ICTP Condensed Matter Physics Group
Head, ICTP/TWAS Donation Programme
I first met Stig Lundqvist about 15 years ago, when he visited the IBM Research laboratory at Yorktown Heights, New York (USA). As often happens between individuals, there was instant recognition and the formation of a bond between us. It was Stig who introduced me to the ICTP and to Abdus Salam. It was again Stig and Eli Burstein who convinced me that the ICTP was a unique institution in the world. It was the involvement of Stig, Eli, and Bob Schrieffer into the affairs of the ICTP that drew me to serve on various committees at the ICTP. As I began to visit the ICTP, I could see the impact Stig had on the institution-not just in condensed matter physics but on all aspects of the ICTP. He was chairman of the Scientific Council and in this role he helped guide the Centre in raising its quality and the strength of its organization. He was instrumental in starting the condensed matter group that has been so ably lead since Stig's time by Yu Lu and Erio Tosatti. At the ICTP, Stig was a commanding figure, nay a towering figure. He was respected not just for his contributions to our understanding of condensed matter but for his numerous other attributes: He was a member and chair of the Nobel Prize committee for physics, professor of physics and, at ICTP, chair of the Scientific Council, dean of condensed matter physics, organizer of outstanding conferences famous both for their topicality and for attracting some of the best minds in the world. Since Stig's departure, there has been no one quite like him at the ICTP. Stig had the uncanny ability to find people to help improve ICTP. His heart was in the place. He lived for the Centre and sometimes, it seems to me, the Centre became an integral part of him, almost like an extended family. It is therefore a great source of pleasure for me to see Stig's contributions recognized by the ICTP in this, albeit small way by naming a prize, a conference, and a lecture room after him. Each of these recognitions epitomize his credos: outstanding science, dissemination of knowledge, and a place where scientists of all cultural and economic backgrounds can meet.
Praveen Chaudhari
Chairman
ICTP Scientific Council
Former Vice-President for Science and Technology
IBM Research Division
Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Yorktown Heights, NY
USA
Chinese Connections
I first met Stig at ICTP in 1979 when I was a member
of the first Delegation of Solid State Physics, headed by HUANG
Kun. After his seminar, Stig had a personal discussion with me
on the problem calculating specific surface energies of solids.
I found he knew the names of such Chinese scientists as GUO Kexin,
a physical metallurgist who had been in Uppsala University in
Stockholm from 1947 to 1956 and who was the head of our laboratory
at the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS), in Shenyang. Stig was very interested in the situation
in science in China, and he asked me many questions. In 1982,
Stig first visited China upon an invitation by GUO Kexin and myself
as the head and deputy head of the Laboratory in the Institute
of Metal Research (CAS). He gave lectures in the Institute of
Physics (CAS) in Beijing, Fudan University in Shanghai, University
of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, and visited Northern
West University in Xi'an. At that time, I was appointed an Associate
Member of ICTP, and continued to enjoy that privilege from 1982
to 1988. In the summer 1984, just one day before my leaving for
China, I met Stig again on the first floor of the ICTP Main Building.
He introduced me to the new concept on fractals and recommended
that I apply it in the field of mechanical property of metals.
A few months later, he gave me Mandelbrot's book on The Fractal
Geometry of Nature in which the author cited his first paper
on fractal description of fractured surfaces published in Nature
(1984). This paper caught my attention and I decided to dedicate
my work to this problem. In 1987, the International Centre for
Materials Physics (ICMP) was founded by the CAS with the help
of the Institute of Metal Research. ICMP emphasizes the application
of new concepts in physics to studies of materials. We were honored
by letters of congratulations by Stig and Abdus Salam, and both
agreed to serve as international advisers for this new center.
Later, in 1989, a Spring College on Fractals in Materials was
held in Shenyang. This activity was attended by more than 40 young
physicists and engineers from China. In 1985, I was fortunate
enough to become a Member of the Solid State Advisory Committee
at ICTP. Spring Colleges on Materials Science and Working Parties
on Mechanical Properties were held at ICTP every other year from
1987 to 1993. These activities proved helpful to scientists working
in materials science and technology from developing countries-providing
opportunities for interaction with such leading experts as P.B.
Hirsch, G.W. Greenwood, R. Bullough and R. Thomson. Chinese colleagues
in other branches of physics and mathematics would certainly confirm
my views on Stig's uncommon enthusiasm in assisting scientists
from developing countries in his life as a scientist in developed
country.
Chi-Wei LUNG
Professor and
Director
ICMP
Chinese Academy of Sciences
China
Scientist
Among his many attributes, Stig Lundqvist was an outstanding
scientist. He conducted fundamental studies of electron gas, particularly
the role of collective plasmon excitations in spectroscopic properties.
One particularly important study of Stig's concentrated on particle
spectroscopy. He found that a resonance occurs when the spectrum
is probed at an energy corresponding to the plasmeron energy.
The plasmeron is a bound state of a hole and a plasmon. These
excitations were observed experimentally and provide a fundamental
aspect of electron gas. Another important aspect of his work concerned
the electron tunnelling spectrum in metals. He studied the single
quasi particle and collective mode spectrum of solids, again probing
fundamental aspects of correlations in the electronic properties
of metal and superconductors. Stig also was interested in electronic
correlations at short spacing, a property poorly described by
the traditional linear response theory. In collaboration with
Kundan Singwi and Alf Sjölander, he developed an approach
that treated short-ranged correlations in a self-consistent manner.
This scheme greatly improved the charge and spin response functions
involved in tunnelling, photoemission and high energy electron
loss spectra. In addition, Stig was interested in the role of
collective behaviour of superconductors and the role they played
in preserving the gauge invariance. In these and many other subjects
he worked closely with students. He would spend long hours discussing
how to formulate solutions to complex phenomena. He was truly
a mentor who took special interest and care for those who were
fortunate enough to be part of his scientific family. Stig was
an enormously enthusiastic person who willingly shared his insights
and friendship with everyone he met. He helped bring into sharper
focus the vision that Abdus Salam had presented from the Centre's
beginning. His accomplishments and outreach to generations of
scientists and students will be long remembered.
J. Robert Schrieffer
Nobel Laureate in Physics 1972
University Eminent Scholar Professor/Chief Scientist
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Florida State University, Tallahassee
USA
Colleague
Stig and I first met as students at Uppsala University during
the 1950s. We continued along our parallel tracks at Chalmers
University, where Stig arrived as a professor in the department
of physics in 1961, just a year before me. At the time, superconductivity
(BCS theory) and neutron scattering in solids were two 'hot' subjects.
During our early years at Chalmers University, Stig and I were
very close; we even collaborated on a paper examining many-body
theory. For me and my wife it was wonderful to have Stig and Eva
around and it was through them that we made many of our international
contacts. Stig eventually became involved in a wide range of issues
related to scientific research policy in Sweden and abroad. In
Sweden, he became 'Mr. Solid State.' Virtually no policy decision
related to the study of physics there was made without him. Despite
his many responsibilities, whenever I visited him in his office
he was never in a hurry. In fact, he always seemed to have time
to sit down and discuss any matters that were on my mind. In later
years, Stig was surrounded by a group of younger people, who were
his former students and who later assumed positions of high responsibility
at Chalmers University. Some--for example, Bengt Lundqvist (unrelated
to Stig), Goran Wendin, and Mats Jonson--have become internationally
well known. Stig was proud to have played a role in their success
and I am sure that he was equally proud of his own accomplishments,
which included more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Yet, his importance extended well beyond mentoring and publications.
As a recent obituary in Gothenburg's local newspaper noted, Stig
was instrumental in bringing together physicists "from different
countries, from different ages, and from different research areas."
By being in the middle of the arena where new ideas were discussed,
he often played the role of ringmaster in advancing his discipline,
which was also his passion. Despite the loss of his beloved wife
Eva in 1981 and the progressively debilitating impacts of diabetes
in the last two decades of his life, he continued to inspire others
and to speak out vigorously for physics. Stig had many of the
best qualities a person can have. Those who were fortunate enough
to be within the circle of his unique personality, intellect and
drive will never forget him. Both my wife and I are proud to be
among them.
Alf Sjölander
Professor Emeritus
Chalmers University of Technology
Gothenburg, Sweden
Teacher
On a corner shelf in my living room, lies a thick physics book
with frayed pages and a faded soft green cover, once much used
but now coated with dust. Not far away on the same shelf, there's
a miniature reddish wooden horse, plain in appearance, nothing
special to look at. For me, both objects are special because they
evoke fond memories of Stig Lundqvist. The book contains lecture
notes drawn from research activities that took place in Trieste
in 1967; the horse is a present of the Lundqvists, Eva and Stig,
who visited my house just after I had come to Trieste in the late
1970s. As a freshly enrolled Ph.D. student in physics in 1967,
I was asked by my supervisor, Franco Bassani, to attend a winter
school at the Trieste-based International Centre for Theoretical
Physics (ICTP)--a place whose existence, unlike my relatively
famous "Scuola Normale" in Pisa, was then not well known.
Indeed ICTP's existence was news to me. Yet the mission of the
Centre seemed worthwhile, even noble: to bring together scientists
and students from all over the world, poor and rich countries
alike, to learn from one another in an atmosphere that encouraged
the free exchange of ideas. The winter school was not only my
first research activity; it was the ICTP's first school in condensed
matter physics. And that's exactly what made it a magical event
for lecturers and students alike: Everything took place more or
less on the spot, including finding references mentioned at talks
or during conversations, tracking down an empty desk in the library,
or even locating a special place for dinner in downtown Trieste.
In the eye of this intellectual and cultural hurricane of exchange,
this whirlwind environment of learning and friendship, this unforgettable
experience for both students and lecturers was Stig Lundqvist,
a gregarious Swede who seemed just as at home detailing the intricacies
of his 'many body theory,' which was new to many of us at the
time, as he was finishing off a beer at a local bar (yes, Stig's
Nordic roots were never far from the surface). The best moments
for many participants often came after, not during, the lectures
when Stig became even less formal and more loquacious than he
had been during the formal presentations. Stig appeared to be
one of us, only more knowledgeable, far different than the stand-offish
image we had of the big influential university professor we were
told he was. His do-good actions (Stig in fact lived his whole
life by doing good) were rarely on display in his conversations
after hours: he was just a plain-talking guy sharing a joke, a
drink, a good meal. Stig, from the first day we met, impressed
me as nothing more than a big student blessed with a big mind
and a big heart. Yet, his jovial nature often hid how serious
he was about science and about helping people. Indeed his good-natured
behaviour proved an effective way for Stig to achieve his goals.
Perhaps it worked so well because Stig after-hours was the same
person as Stig during classroom lectures and discussions. I'm
surely not alone in my admiration for this remarkable man and
his remarkable career. His continuing presence and leadership
in Trieste between the late 1960s and mid 1990s was certainly
an element, perhaps the key element, that persuaded so many of
us worldwide to come to Trieste and to ICTP as often as we could
to learn about physics, to re-establish old friendships and develop
new ones, and to participate in a learning experience that was
both edifying and enjoyable. Stig's great gift was to make physics
fun and to personalise his grand vision in ways that made everyone
who joined him in his quest to feel as if they were a part of
a glorious ride into the future... with one glorious man leading
the way.
Erio Tosatti
Professor of Physics, International School for Advanced
Studies (SISSA)
Consultant, ICTP
Statesman
In a sense, Stig Lundqvist was responsible for me coming to ICTP.
I first met Stig in China in 1983 when he visited the Institute
of Physics in Beijing, where I was a member of the research staff.
He probably had heard about me from others, including Bob Schrieffer,
the Nobel Laureate. Stig and I spoke as if we had known each other
for years. Soon after our initial conversation, Stig arranged
for me to visit ICTP, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics
(NORDITA) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the University of Gothenburg,
Sweden. These first encounters with Stig, in many ways, were emblematic
of the man. His extraordinary enthusiasm for new things in physics
and his irresistible warmth towards colleagues, especially young
researchers, were inherent parts of his personality. I returned
to Europe, specifically Trieste, the following year, having been
named an Associate of ICTP. While here, Stig discussed with me
the possibility of coming to Trieste for a longer period. Our
conversation took place at the same time that ICTP's administrative
oversight organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), was examining whether to permit ICTP to create a permanent
research staff--something that Stig was very keen on. Since the
Centre's inception, all researchers had come for a set period
and then returned to their home institutions. It was largely through
Stig's efforts, along with the vision and determination of Abdus
Salam, that the Centre began to build a permanent research staff.
I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time.
With Erio Tosatti and Mario Tosi in Trieste and Norman March and
Paul Butcher from outside, Stig was a driving force behind the
ICTP condensed matter physics programme. He was also the main
attraction for a large number of distinguished ICTP visitors,
like Nobel Laureates Bob Schrieffer, Phil Anderson and Walter
Kohn. The Spring College on Order and Chaos in Condensed Matter
Physics in 1986 was the first activity at the Centre that I was
involved in running. Some members of the ICTP Solid State Advisory
Committee apparently had reservations about whether the Centre
should invest heavily in this new research area. Stig's enthusiasm
convinced them to approve it and, thanks largely to Stig, the
activity was an enormous success. In 1985-1986, just after the
Centre received a substantial new infusion of funds, Stig proposed
the creation of the Adriatico Research Conferences, where young
scientists, particularly from the developing world, would be exposed
to fundamental aspects of the field in morning lectures and then
hear about cutting-edge ideas at more specialised afternoon talks.
At a 1987 conference, for instance, participants learned about
the scanning tunnelling microscope from the very person who won
the Noble Prize for the invention, Heinrich Rohrer. Stig also
led ICTP's efforts in 1987 to organise a conference on high-temperature
superconductivity just after the topic had gained international
attention in the press. The event, which was put together in just
two months, turned out to be the second largest gathering on the
topic in the world, eclipsed only by the so-called "Woodstock
of Physics" session that took place during the American Physical
Society meeting the same year. It was not only a first-rate scientific
happening where Doug Scalapino first proposed the idea of d-wave
superconductivity in high Tc cuprates, but it proved an important
political event. Stig managed to bring 15 leading scientists from
the Soviet Union. It marked the first time that such a large number
of Soviet-trained scientists participated in a research activity
in the West. Stig's two great qualities were his infectious enthusiasm
for researching and teaching physics and his deep commitment for
helping young researchers from the developing world. Both these
aspects of Stig's personality played a key role in the development
of ICTP. That's why his memory will ever remain present in the
Centre for years and decades to come.
Yu Lu
Head, ICTP Condensed Matter Physics Group
Stig Lundqvist receiving the special Dirac Medal from Abdus Salam. On the left, Anders Sjöberg, President of Chalmers University of Technology.
Group photo at the Symposium on Frontiers in Condensed Matter
Physics in honour of Stig Lundqvist (August 1990). Left to right:
Heinrich Rohrer, Philip W. Anderson, Abdus Salam, Stig Lundqvist,
Paolo Budinich and J. Robert Schrieffer.
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