physics

Markus Fierz

Markus Fierz is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Markus Fierz rather than just read about it. In short: Markus Eduard Fierz (20 June 1912 – 20 June 2006) was a Swiss physicist, particularly remembered for his formulation of spin–statistics theorem, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, particle physics, and statistical mechanics. He was awarded the Max Planck Medal in 1979 and the Albert Einstein Medal in 1989 for all his work.

Key takeaways

Markus Fierz belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Markus Fierz to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Markus Fierz from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Markus Eduard Fierz (20 June 1912 – 20 June 2006) was a Swiss physicist, particularly remembered for his formulation of spin–statistics theorem, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, particle physics, and statistical mechanics. He was awarded the Max Planck Medal in 1979 and the Albert Einstein Medal in 1989 for all his work.

Biography Fierz's father Hans Eduard Fierz was a chemist with Geigy and later a professor at ETH Zurich, his mother was Linda Fierz-David. Fierz studied at the Realgymnasium in Zurich. In 1931 he began his studies in Göttingen, where he listened to the lectures of prolific academics including Hermann Weyl. In 1933 he returned to Zurich and studied physics at ETH under Wolfgang Pauli and Gregor Wentzel. In 1936 he earned a doctoral degree with his thesis on the infrared catastrophe in quantum electrodynamics. Afterward he went to Werner Heisenberg in Leipzig and in 1936 became an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli in Zurich. For his habilitation degree in 1939 he treated in his thesis relativistic fields with arbitrary spins (with and without mass) and proved the spin-statistics theorem for free fields. For quantum electrodynamics the work was extended. The work on relativistic fields with arbitrary spins was later important in supergravity. In 1940 he became Privatdozent in Basel and 1943 assistant professor. From 1944 to 1959 he was a professor for theoretical physics in Basel. In 1950 he was at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he met Res Jost. In 1959 he led the theoretical physics department at CERN in Geneva for one year and in 1960 he became the successor of his teacher Pauli at ETH. In 1977 he retired there as an emeritus professor. Fierz also worked on gravitational theory but published only one paper on the subject. In 1940 he married Menga Biber; they became acquainted through making music (he played the violin). They had two sons.

Publications Fierz, M. (1939), "Über die relativistische Theorie kräftefreier Teilchen mit beliebigem Spin", Helv. Phys. Acta (in German), 12 (1): 3–37, Bibcode:1939AcHPh..12....3F, doi:10.5169/seals-110930(pdf download available){{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) Fierz, M.; Pauli, W. (1939), "On relativistic wave equations for particles of arbitrary spin in an electromagnetic field", Proc. R. Soc. A, 173 (953): 211–232, Bibcode:1939RSPSA.173..211F, doi:10.1098/rspa.1939.0140 Fierz, M. (1949). ""Title" Zur Theorie der Multipolstrahlung". Helv. Phys. Acta. 22: 489. Fierz, M. (1956). "Über die physikalische Deutung der erweiterten Gravitationstheorie P. Jordans". Helv. Phys. Acta. 29: 128. M. Fierz, ’Spinors’, in Proceedings of the International Conference on Relativistic Theories of Gravitation, London, July 1965, H. Bondi ed., King's College, University of London, 1965 Fierz, M. (1964). "Warum gibt es keine magnetischen Ladungen?". Helv. Phys. Acta. 37: 663. M. Fierz, ’Die unitären Darstellungen der homogenen Lorentzgruppe’, in Preludes in theoretical physics, in honor of V. F. Weisskopf, A. de-Shalit, H. Feshbach and L. van Hove (eds.), North Holland, Amsterdam, 1966; ASIN B0006BNIZ2 M. Fierz, Vorlesungen zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Mechanik. Springer 1972; ISBN 978-3-540-37606-4

Notes

See also Fierz completeness relations Relativistic wave equations

References Bloch, F.; Nordsieck, A. (1937), "Note on the Radiation Field of the Electron", Phys. Rev., 52 (54): 54–59, Bibcode:1937PhRv...52...54B, doi:10.1103/PhysRev.52.54 Pauli, W. (1940), "The Connection Between Spin and Statistics", Phys. Rev., 58 (716): 716–722, Bibcode:1940PhRv...58..716P, doi:10.1103/PhysRev.58.716 "Marcus E. Fierz: director of Theoretical Studies". CERN Courier. 1 (4): 2. November 1959. Minkowski, Peter (September 2006). "Faces and places: Markus Eduard Fierz-Biber 1926-2006". CERN Courier. 7 (46): 50.

External links Family site "Physics Today" obituary (includes a photo)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Markus Fierz

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Markus Fierz claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Markus Fierz before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Markus Fierz ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Markus Fierz

In research: Markus Fierz appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Markus Fierz in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Markus Fierz is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1912 births, 2006 deaths, Academic staff of ETH Zurich, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Markus Fierz outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Markus Fierz in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Markus Fierz means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Markus Fierz out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Markus Fierz in simple terms?

Why does Markus Fierz matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Markus Fierz?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Markus Fierz.