2009 Medal Winners | francais

The 2009 CAP Herzberg Medal

is awarded to

Guy Moore

"I am thrilled and surprised to receive the CAP Herzberg medal. The medal means a lot to me; as a foreign national it makes me feel fully accepted by the Canadian physics community, and as a physicist it is wonderful to see such recognition for my work." winner citation

The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) is pleased to announce that the 2009 CAP Herzberg Medal is awarded to Guy Moore, McGill University, in recognition of for the broad impact of his contributions to theoretical particle physics, such as the bulk and collective behaviour of quantum chromodynamics under extreme conditions of temperature and density. announcement

Guy Moore is one of the world’s leading experts in field theories at finite temperatures, in and out of equilibrium. His work is characterized by its theoretical depth and by its stunning scientific eclecticism. He made seminal breakthroughs in areas as diverse as early Universe cosmology, string theory, particle physics, and numerical techniques in lattice gauge theory. Moore works in one of the most fascinating fields of contemporary science, the one preoccupied with the understanding of the bulk, collective behavior of Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interaction. His work aims to deepen our understanding of the very nature of the theory while providing testable predictions and verifications that can be investigated by experimental collaborations. His calculations of transport coefficients for finite-temperature QCD and his evaluation of photon emission rates from quark-gluon plasma represent a theoretical tour de force. This achievement represented a significant step forward for finite-temperature field theory, and is now textbook material. It defines the state of the art and has become the standard reference for other physicists. Another example of Moore’s accomplishments deals with his elucidation of the rate of baryon number violation at high temperature in the standard model of particle physics. This work has direct and important consequences in many baryogenesis scenarios of theoretical models of the early Universe. More recently, Moore has made the bold leap of applying string theory techniques in the environment of hot and dense matter: this is at the very cutting edge of theoretical particle and nuclear physics. His achievements in particle physics together with his other contributions in various areas of theoretical physics, including cosmology, illustrate his breadth, and his analytical and computational skills. nominator citation

Guy Moore will receive the 2009 CAP Herzberg Medal during the CAP's awards banquet to be held at the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick, on June 9th, 2009.

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