RIP James D. Bjorken (1934 - 2024)

[robphy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bjorken

Remembering theoretical physicist James D. “BJ” Bjorken, 90, who played a crucial role in discovering quarks
https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news...james-d-bj-bjorken-90-who-played-crucial-role

https://quillette.com/2024/08/15/scaling-the-heights-of-physics-james-bjorken/

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https://artsci.case.edu/smat50/james-daniel-bjorken/ (brief biography from "The Standard Model at 50 Years: A Celebratory Symposium" 2018)

https://wolffund.org.il/james-d-bjorken/ (Wolf Prize Laureate in Physics 2015)
https://www.ictp.it/home/dirac-medallists-2004 (Dirac Medal 2004)

https://history.aip.org/phn/11412015.html (brief biography from the AIP Physics History Network)
https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/46745 ( AIP - Niels Bohr Library & Archives - Oral History - James D. Bjorken (2020 interview) )

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Special Lecture - James Bjorken (November 11, 2009) video
https://pirsa.org/09110134

“Why Do We Do Physics? Because Physics Is Fun!” - James D. Bjorken (2020)
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-nucl-101918-023359

In Conclusion: A Collection of Summary Talks in High Energy Physics
https://www.amazon.com/Conclusion-Collection-Summary-Energy-Physics/dp/981023869X?tag=pfamazon01-20

UPDATE:

• http://www.bjphysicsnotes.com/
  

  My name is James Bjorken, known in the physics community as bj. I retired from a theoretical physics staff position at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in 1998. Since then, my physics interests have mostly been focused on the problem of dark energy.
  
  This website will contain, for the most part, a collection of notes in pdf form documenting work done since retirement. They are at present being placed on this site, along with introductory material.
  
  If is my hope that these notes may stimulate visitors to take these raw ideas, run with them , and either improve on them or criticize them to death. I am not very sensitive to intellectual property issues, other than direct plagiarism and/or quotation of this material taken out of context, to attack me or these ideas.

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https://inspirehep.net/authors/1016238

https://academictree.org/physics/tree.php?pid=169184
https://genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=199206



I met him briefly when I was a summer student at Fermilab.

 

[berkeman]

“Why Do We Do Physics? Because Physics Is Fun!” - James D. Bjorken (2020)
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-nucl-101918-023359

Nice article. Pretty amazing Physicist in pretty amazing times...

This part of the talk has to do with belief systems in science. I recall that in the 1960s people would ask me, “Do you believe in quarks?” These people were physicists! As best as I can recall, my reply was, “That is a religious question, not a scientific one. What do you mean?”

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am sad. I knew bj from his time at Fermilab. He would host grad school cookouts in the summer. (The grad students were guests, not the entrre). He came to Fermilab around the time his wife, Joanie passed away.

He got me through field theory with the advice "Always calculate ratios. You'll make the same mistake in the numerator as the denominator and you'll be fine." True that.

I also had the privilege of working closely with two-thirds of his former students.