Raymond George Vickson Sept 19 1942- May 13 2019

[neilparker62]

Every sincere scientist - past and present - contributes in their own way towards the building of "scientific reefs" if I may draw that comparison to the incredible diversity of life and function we see in coral reefs. RIP Ray and deepest condolences to family and friends.

 

[Periwinkle]

Horace, Ode I.11​

​

Tu ne quaesieris - scire nefas! - quem mihi, quem tibi​

finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios​

temptaris numeros. Ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,​

seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,​

quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare​

Tyrrheneum. Sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi​

spem longam reseces; dum loquimur, fugerit invida​

aetas: Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.​

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't ask - it is forbidden to know! - what kind of me, what kind of you​

end the gods give, Leuconoe, Babylonian fortune-tellers​

don't try. It would be better if you got anything, bear,​

will you have more winter, or will Jupiter give you the last one,​

which now the rocks of the Tyrrhenian Sea are unyielding and​

breach. Make your mind, filter the wine, short the time and​

abroad hopes cut back; as long as we talk, run away from our envy​

years: Take gain of this instant than the less believable tomorrow.​

 

[QuantumQuest]

My deep condolences. He was a great member of PF, very very knowledgeable, has helped a whole lot of people here and I, personally, have learned a lot and gain insights into various problems. Rest In Peace Ray.

 

[Dr Transport]

I am deeply sorry for your loss...

 

[PainterGuy]

I'm really sorry to hear this! My condolences to you and your family.

 

[mesa]

You husband was a great man who helped many go from student to working professional, he will be missed Lynne.

 

[chwala]

Physicsforums made me share a life with Ray, though separated by distance and different cultural background, i was able to interact with Ray in one language called 'Maths' it brought us together despite the fact that i come from one of the farthest distance on our planet and that's Africa.

 

[Mark44]

I am sorry to report the death of Ray Vickson who was a member of this forum. He enjoyed assisting members with their problems during his retirement.
Lynne Vickson

Lynne, I'm very sorry to hear of Ray's passing. I've been in contact many times here at Physics Forums over the past ten years or so, due to our mutual interest in helping students with mathematics problems. Ray provided high quality help to many students here at this site. He will be missed.

 

[fresh_42]

Physicsforums made me share a life with Ray, though separated by distance and different cultural background

In fact, this is what I always find most appealing here: the opportunity to talk with people around the globe in basically the same language of math, regardless the continent, culture or time zone. To me this represents a kind of hope for humanity. Ray was such an anchor of hope. And that is why I won't forget him.

 

[DrClaude]

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timescolonist/obituary.aspx?n=raymond-g-vickson&pid=192906218Edit: same obituary, put the quality of the picture is better
http://vancouversunandprovince.remembering.ca/obituary/raymond-vickson-1942-2019-1074675224

 

[jedishrfu]

Thanks for posting @DrClaude, I searched too a few days ago but apparently it was too soon.

Ray had quite a life, I wonder what his theoretical physics specialty was?

 

[DrClaude]

I wonder what his theoretical physics specialty was?

His Ph.D. thesis at MIT was titled A generalized interference model. It led to the following publication:
R. G. Vickson, Generalized Interference Model, Phys. Rev. 188, 2154 (1969)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.188.2154

A crossing-symmetric Regge-pole model of the generalized interference type is discussed. The model consists of a sum of infinitely many Regge poles in each channel, corresponding to a leading Regge trajectory and its parallel daughters. All the usual requirements are satisfied by the Regge residues, and nonlinear trajections can be introduced without difficulty. At the expense of a loss of physical interpretation, the double-counting problem can be eliminated by identifying the Schmid loops with the direct-channel resonances.

The textbook mentioned in the obituary appears to be
W.T. Ziemba and R.G. Vickson, Stochastic Optimization Models in Finance, Academic Press (1975)
https://doi.org/10.1142/6101
https://www.elsevier.com/books/stochastic-optimization-models-in-finance/ziemba/978-0-12-780850-5
Later on, he seems to have concentrated on operational research. His most cited publications are:
A Survey of the Maximum Principles for Optimal Control Problems with State Constraints
Two Single Machine Sequencing Problems Involving Controllable Job Processing Times
Choosing the Job Sequence and Processing Times to Minimize Total Processing Plus Flow Cost on a Single Machine
Periodic Review Production Models With Variable Yield And Uncertain Demand
Routing Container Ships Using Lagrangean Relaxation and Decomposition

 

[Evo]

I missed this and am so saddened by the news. Lynne, I am so sorry for your loss. He will be missed here.

 

[epsilonita]

I am sorry to report the death of Ray Vickson who was a member of this forum. He enjoyed assisting members with their problems during his retirement.
Lynne Vickson

Heartfelt condolences. :(

 

[preet_jay]

I send you my condolences Lynne. I hope Ray is watching over us all and smiling at our progress. Rest In Peace Ray.

 

[DryRun]

I've been a struggling student for a long time and i remember Ray as a pillar of the help section. He undoubtedly gave his best and mentored a lot of students and changed their lives for the better. My most sincere condolences to you and your family, Lynne. Ray was a great man and an inspiring mentor. I hope to follow in his steps one day.