M. A. B. Beg

Mirza Abdul Baqi Baig or M. A. B. Beg (September 20, 1934 – January 30, 1990) was an American-Pakistani physicist who made important contributions to the fields of theoretical physics and particle physics.^[1] He is credited mainly with his role in laying down the theoretical foundations of the quark theory as well as development of the SU(6) model.^[2]

Biography

Beg was born on September the 20th, 1934 in a place called Etawah in the state of U.P. in the pre-partition India.^[3] Later in 1947, following the independence of Pakistan, his family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Hyderabad, where he did his Bachelors (Honors) in Physics in 1951 from the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, one of the oldest universities of Pakistan. He did his masters in physics from the University of Karachi in 1954 and immediately proceeded to University of Pittsburgh, where he completed his doctorate in physics in 1958. He was awarded his first postdoctoral fellowship (1958-1960) at the University of Birmingham, working under Sir Rudolf Peierls at the department of physics, followed by his second post-doc at the Brookhaven National Laboratory at Upton, New York. His work at BNL earned him a membership at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton University (1962–64), where he spent two highly-productive years in developing the foundations of valuable work he later carried out.

He joined the faculty of physics at the Rockefeller University in 1964 and was promoted to full Professor in 1968. Soon after his appointment, beginning with 1965 he became a consultant at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (serving on its High Energy Advisory Committee from 1975 to 1978, which took decisions on the selection of experiments to be conducted at the laboratory.) He also contributed significantly to other global particle physics endeavors, most notably, at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. He was appointed as a fellow of the American Physical Society and the New York Academy of Sciences, in addition to recognition by the American Institute of Physics.^[4]

Beg made a number of contributions to the then pioneering efforts in the structure of elementary particles and the development of the quark theory, especially contributing to the important symmetries in physics which underlie our understanding of the elementary particles. His important work lies in the domain of group theory, especially in the SU(6) model. He was a driving force and inspiration for generations of particle physicists.

Beg was a bona fide and valuable citizen scientist and believed in science as a tool for human development and uplift. "He held the view that science, in particular fundamental science, is the best catalyst for inducing far reaching socio-political changes in contemporary societies and that it provides a universal opportunity to make a lasting contribution to human knowledge.", based on which The Emerging Nations Science Foundation (ESNF), a non-governmental organization based in Trieste, Italy, has constituted a prize in his memory, named the "ENSF Prize in Physics (In memoriam M.A.B. Beg)".^[5]

He died peacefully at his home in Manhattan, New York, on 30 January 1990, survived by his wife Nancie. An obituary was published in New York Times on 1 February 1990.

A memorial was published in his memory (widely known as The "M.A.B. Beg Memorial Volume") in 1991 by World Scientific, which includes several papers written by him as well as other prominent particle physicists.^[6]

References