Dennis Nemeschansky, professor of physics and astronomy at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, died on June1. He was 67.
An expert on string theory who focused on supersymmetry quantum field theory, Nemeschansky is best known for the Minahan-Nemeschansky Theory, which he developed with visiting physicist Joseph Minahan during a game of golf.
Published in 1997, their paper showed that the then-current approach to constructing certain types of important supersymmetric quantum field theories was incorrect and demonstrated the correct way to do it. Initial skepticism from the scientific community gradually gave way to respect and acceptance a decade later, as the theory continued to hold true under scrutiny.
Moreover, they were able to generalize their result to construct several more theories that completed a connection between these supersymmetric quantum field theories and a deep mathematical classification result.
Nemeschanskys teaching focused on pre-med physics, and he taught Physics for the Life Sciences (PHYS 135) for more than 30 years.
Stephan Haas, chair of the Department of Physics and professor of physics and astronomy, said Nemeschansky would be sorely missed by faculty and students alike.
Dennis had a great sense of humor, passion for science and ability to communicate complex material in a very understandable way, Haas said.
Indeed, Nemeschansky wasnt shy about using his considerable athleticism to illustrate the properties of physics to his students and could be spotted each semester demonstrating Newtons Third Law by whizzing across campus on a skateboard with a fire extinguisher attached.
Students and colleagues loved his casual and relatable attitude, Haas said. In his research, he made seminal contributions to our understanding of quantum field theory and string theory, their application to unification of forces, and on strong-weak coupling duality in supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics.
A true calling
Nemeschansky was born in Helsinki, Finland, on Dec. 21, 1955. His father, Arje, was a salesman of kitchen equipment and his mother, Joan, worked in pharmaceutical sales. Nemeschansky was brought up in the Jewish faith, attending Hebrew school in Helsinki.
His son, alumnus David Nemeschansky 15, who earned undergraduate degrees in political science from USC Dornsife and in communication from USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism as well as a progressive masters from USC Leventhal School of Accounting, said his father was one of the lucky few blessed with a true calling in life.
He always knew from a very young age that math and physics were his thing, he said. It actually made his parents very nervous because he just wanted to do numbers and really had no patience or interest in any other subject.
After completing his national service in the Finnish Army, Nemeschansky obtained an MSc in theoretical physics from Helsinki University of Technology in 1980. He then moved to the United States to earn his PhD at Princeton University in 1984, where he collaborated with and was taught by some of the leading physics minds of the day. It was also where he decided to study string theory, which he specialized in throughout his career.
After Princeton, he moved to Stanford University, where he completed his postdoctoral training at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in 1986.
The move to California proved decisive.
Coming from Finlands cold, dark winters, he fell in love with the sunny paradise of California and really wanted to stay here, said David Nemeschansky.
The promising young physicist was invited to give a talk at USCs inaugural string theory conference in 1985 and joined USC Dornsife the following year.
He had this personality where he wanted things done right 98% wasnt good enough.
He was recruited with Itzhak Bars, professor of physics and astronomy, to create a new theoretical physics group within the department.
Most of these new hires were string theorists. My father was really excited about that and the possibility of working with those folks and building out something new at USC, David Nemeschansky said.
A devoted teacher and mentor to his students, Nemeschansky took office hours very seriously, offering more than was required of him.
He believed that you had to really understand physics and the mathematical backing behind it; you couldnt just memorize formulas, David Nemeschansky said. He felt very strongly that people need to be taught in a way that shows them that beauty and elegance. And then they would never have to memorize a formula; they would see how it all ties together.
While David Nemeschansky was a student at USC, he remembers his father inviting him to attend a lecture in which he would demonstrate how the entire physics textbook could be derived from two formulas. I remember watching people in the first 15 minutes meticulously taking notes as hes doing all these graphs on the chalkboard he had no notes, it was all in his head. And then you could slowly see the atmosphere in the room turn to awe because it was very clear that his understanding was so deep.
Disinterested in becoming department chair because he preferred to concentrate on his teaching and research, Nemeschansky did serve as colloquium chair, organizing physics symposiums and bringing in expert speakers to talk to faculty and doctoral students. He also served as scheduling chair, compiling the departments class schedules.
In 1995 and 2004, he was a visiting fellow at the European Organization for Nuclear Research on the French-Swiss border, the location of the worlds most powerful particle accelerator. He also spent the summer of 2018 at TRIUMF in Canada.
Prior to his death, Nemeschansky wrote a physics textbook tailored to health students with USC Dornsifes Scott Macdonald, assistant professor (teaching) of physics and astronomy. MacDonald is currently in talks with a publisher.
A passion for family, physics, sports and books
David Nemeschansky remembers being impressed by his fathers extensive library.
I used to joke that in his office he had a wizard library. He really was trying to figure out the great mysteries of the universe, how matter is constructed, how the tiniest subatomic particles work. How many dimensions are there? How did the universe begin?
In addition to his life-long passion for physics, Nemeschansky was a huge sports enthusiast.
My father was a man of a very clear priorities: family, physics and sports in that order, said David Nemeschansky.
He was a keen ice hockey player and was so talented at tennis that at university he had to choose between a professional career in the sport and physics. His love of physics won.
Nemeschansky was also a talented soccer player and became an avid golfer in middle age.
He had this personality where he wanted things done right 98% wasnt good enough, David Nemeschansky said. He had immensely high standards for instance, he would rather not publish than publish something that was mediocre. That exacting nature translated into sports.
He really wanted me to have outstanding hockey training and he felt he was the only person who could do that, so he became my coach.
The modest Finn
Nemeschansky may have been a perfectionist, but by all accounts, he was also an extremely modest, private man who asked students to call him by his first name.
He is fondly remembered by faculty, staff and students as a brilliant but self-effacing man who inevitably had an undone shoelace.
He was a man of few words. He didnt really talk much about himself unless asked and even then, if you asked him where he went to school, he would say back East. He wouldnt say Princeton, said David Nemeschansky.
Nemeschansky spoke fluent Finnish, Swedish and English and some Hebrew.
A believer in Judaism who saw ample room for God and physics to go hand in hand, Nemeschansky regularly attended synagogue.
In 1988, he married Lauren Rosen, a grade schoolteacher who later became a successful realtor.
Nemeschansky loved to travel and enjoyed photographing waterfalls so much his family nicknamed him Captain Tripod.
He retained great affection for the country of his birth throughout his life despite feeling it was a little small.
He had bigger dreams, and that eventually took him to the U.S., said David Nemeschansky. He married an American, had American children, but he stayed a Finnish citizen until he died. He loved his country.
Nemeschansky is survived by his mother; his wife; his sons, David and Marc; and his brothers, Ben and Michael.
Visit link:
- Netflixs 3 Body Problem: The science explained by an astrophysicist - Vox.com - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Entanglement entropies of nuclear systems gro - EurekAlert - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Quest for a Theory of Everything Scientists Put Einstein to the Test - SciTechDaily - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Vibrating atoms are seen 'tuning' the energy of a single electron - Earth.com - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Innovator Spotlight: Joseph Maciejko | The Quad - University of Alberta - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- A Breakthrough in the Control of Quantum Phenomena at Room Temperature Has Been Achieved, Researchers Say - The Debrief - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- The End of the Quantum Ice Age: Room Temperature Breakthrough - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum computer outperformed by new traditional computing - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- URI program to help STEM professionals pivot into quantum information science careers - The University of Rhode Island - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum realm controlled at room temperature for the first time - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum Breakthrough: New Method Preserves Information Against All Odds - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum computers get new design that makes them more "useful" - Earth.com - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Beyond Classical Physics: Scientists Discover New State of Matter With Chiral Properties - SciTechDaily - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Quantum research sheds light on the mystery of high-temperature superconductivity - Tech Explorist - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Unlocking the Mysteries of Quantum Many-Body Systems: A Look at Quantum Simulators and Universal Scaling ... - Medriva - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Functioning quantum internet makes giant stride closer to reality - Earth.com - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Exploring New Futures in Space: A Revolutionary Integration of Neuroscience, Quantum Physics, and Space Exploration - SETI Institute - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Uncovering the Quantum Plateau: Significance and Implications | Nature Physics - Medriva - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- The State of the Art in Quantum Computing - Medium - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Beyond the Visible Universe: New Research Reveals How Gravity Influences the Quantum Realm - SciTechDaily - February 13th, 2024 [February 13th, 2024]
- Leader of IBM's Quantum Safe Team to speak at URI - University of Rhode Island - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- University Assistant Predoctoral, Physics job with UNIVERSITY OF ... - Times Higher Education - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Zentropy A New Theory That Could Transform Material Science - SciTechDaily - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Researchers Studying the Quantum Realm Observe Alice in ... - The Debrief - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Augusta University graduate starts business in the artificial ... - Jagwire Augusta - September 23rd, 2023 [September 23rd, 2023]
- Quantum Echoes: A Revolutionary Method to Store Information as Sound Waves - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- 'Quantum superchemistry' observed for the 1st time ever - Space.com - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Quantum Avalanche A Phenomenon That May Revolutionize Microelectronics and Supercomputing - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Applications of quantum mechanics at the beach - Symmetry magazine - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Book Review: On the Origin of Time Stephen Hawking's Final Theory - Moose Jaw Today - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Harnessing Quantum Technologies: The Next Big Leap in Global ... - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The quantum avalanche - At the Vienna University of Technology, it ... - Chemie.de - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Semiconductors: The Linchpin of AI in Quantum Computing - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Promising Collaboration Between AI and Quantum Computing - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- QUANTUM SUPERCOMPUTERS. The words Quantum and ... - Medium - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Fourteen MIT School of Science professors receive tenure for 2022 ... - MIT News - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Fascinating World of Quantum Integrated Circuits: The Next Big ... - Fagen wasanni - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Conclusive Evidence for Modified Gravity: Collapse of Newton's and ... - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- Physicists Open New Path to an Exotic Form of Superconductivity - SciTechDaily - August 14th, 2023 [August 14th, 2023]
- The Principle of Least Action Now Exists in the Quantum Realm - Popular Mechanics - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum materials: Electron spin measured for the first time - EurekAlert - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Life in a hologram | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- If Black Holes Evaporate, Everything Evaporates - Universe Today - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Clever Ant-Man Easter Egg Links The Movie to the Real World's ... - Startefacts - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum Cryptography: The Cutting Edge of Secure Communication - CityLife - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- This 17-year-old works to make quantum mainstream - Indiatimes.com - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- The multiverse is doomed and even Spider-Man and The Flash can't save it - Yahoo Entertainment - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Physics of Time Travel: A Scientific Perspective - Mirage News - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Quantum Spin Liquids: The Future of Superconductors - EnergyPortal.eu - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Interview: Three Books That Make Tess Gunty Angry - The New York Times - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Events Calendar School of Mathematics and Statistics Colloquium ... - Carleton University - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- Graphene and Quantum Computing: A Match Made in Heaven - CityLife - June 10th, 2023 [June 10th, 2023]
- A Quantum Computer Simulation Has Reversed Time And Physics May Never Be The Same - Twisted Sifter - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Realizing the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox for Atomic Clouds - Physics - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- The US and UK team up to advance quantum information science - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- How plants can perform feats of quantum mechanics - Big Think - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Physicists Make Matter out of Light to Find Quantum Singularities - Scientific American - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Eventually everything will evaporate, not only black holes - Science Daily - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Julius-Maximillians-Universitt Wrzburg Researchers Use ... - HPCwire - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- TNTs The Lazarus Project Uses Suspense Trapping to Ask Smart ... - Roger Ebert - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Quantum Exponential: building a cutting edge quantum technology ... - The Armchair Trader - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- IMDEA Software and IMDEA Networks work to deploy in the ... - EurekAlert - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Ian Hacking, Eminent Philosopher of Science and Much Else, Dies ... - The New York Times - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Does mass increase when nearing the speed of light? - Big Think - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Answering Questions about Boring Numbers, Disasters, Fusion, and ... - Scientific American - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- Spiderman: Across the Spider-verse | Reel World | timesnewspapers ... - Webster-Kirkwood Times, Inc. - June 2nd, 2023 [June 2nd, 2023]
- There's a Secret Way to Get to Absolute Zero. Scientists Just Found It. - Popular Mechanics - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Photon Precision: How Quantum Physicists Shattered the Bounds of Sensitivity - SciTechDaily - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Do we live in a hologram? Why physics is still mesmerised by this idea - New Scientist - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Is Ultimate Truth an Equation? Nah. The Stute - The Stute - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- UChicago Lab Creates 'Quantum Casino,' a Win-Win to Educate and ... - Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Physics - Tweezers in Three Dimensions - Physics - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Brave new world: On the edge of a second quantum revolution - University of Cape Town News - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Researchers pull back the quantum curtain on 'Weyl fermions' - Phys.org - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Scale separation: Breaking down unsolvable problems into solvable ones - Phys.org - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Postdoctoral Research Associate in Quantum Optics job with ... - Times Higher Education - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Australia's first quantum strategy predicts $6 billion in revenue and ... - SmartCompany - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Nature's Quantum Secret: Link Discovered Between Photosynthesis ... - SciTechDaily - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Two ERC proof of concept grants for the University of Bonn - EurekAlert - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Stephen Hawking's final, god's-eye view of the cosmos ponders the ultimate origin of our universe - The Conversation - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]