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Mikhail Shifman
Born	(1949-04-04) April 4, 1949 (age 75) Riga, Latvia
Alma mater	Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Known for	Penguin mechanism Quantum Chromodynamics KSVZ axion Nonperturbative supersymmetry Supersymmetric gauge theories
Awards	Humboldt Research Award (1993) Sakurai Prize (1999) Lilienfeld Prize (2006) Chaires Blaise Pascal (2007) Pomeranchuk Prize (2013) ICTP Dirac Medal (2016) Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (2018) Fulbright Distinguished Scholar (2022) Regents Professor of the University of Minnesota (2024)
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical High Energy Physics
Institutions	William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP)
Academic advisors	Boris L. Ioffe, Arkady Vainshtein, Valentine I. Zakharov

Mikhail "Misha" Arkadyevich Shifman (Russian: Михаи́л Арка́дьевич Ши́фман; born 4 April 1949) is a theoretical physicist (high energy physics), formerly at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow, currently Ida Cohen Fine Professor of Theoretical Physics, William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Minnesota.

Scientific contributions

Shifman is known for a number of basic contributions to quantum chromodynamics, the theory of strong interactions, and to understanding of supersymmetric gauge dynamics. The most important results due to M. Shifman are diverse and include (i) the discovery of the penguin mechanism in the flavor-changing weak decays (1974); (ii) introduction of the gluon condensate and development of the SVZ sum rules relating properties of the low-lying hadronic states to the vacuum condensates (1979); (iii) introduction of the invisible (aka KSVZ) axion (1980) (iv) first exact results in supersymmetric Yang–Mills theories (NSVZ beta function, gluino condensate,1983–1988); (v) heavy quark theory based on the operator product expansion (1985–1995); (vi) critical domain walls (D-brane analogs) in super-Yang-Mills (1996); (vii) non-perturbative (exact) planar equivalence between super-Yang–Mills and orientifold non-supersymmetric theories (2003); (viii) non-Abelian flux tubes and confined monopoles (2004 till present). His paper with A. Vainshtein and Zakharov on the SVZ sum rules is among the all-time top cited papers in high-energy physics.

Honors and awards

Mikhail Shifman received the Alexander-von-Humboldt Award in 1993, the Sakurai Prize in 1999, the Ida Cohen Fine Chair in Theoretical Physics and the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize in 2006; he is the 2007 laureate of the Blaise Pascal Chair, 2013 Pomeranchuk Prize and he was awarded the 2016 Dirac Medal and Prize of the ICTP. In May 2018, M. Shifman was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences. 2022: Fulbright Distinguished Scholar. In 2024, Mikhail Shifman was appointed as the University of Minnesota Regents Professor. He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Political positions

In February-March 2022, he signed two open letters by Russian scientists condemning the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Selected books

• M. Shifman, ed. (1992). Vacuum Structure and QCD Sum Rules. Amsterdam: North Holland. ISBN 9780444897459.
• Shifman, M. (1999). ITEP Lectures on Particle Physics and Field Theory (2 volumes). Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-02-2639-8.
• Mikhail A. Shifman (2001). "Foreword and Notes from the Editor". In Mikhail A. Shifman (ed.). At The Frontier of Particle Physics: Handbook of QCD (On the occasion of the 75th birthday of Professor Boris Ioffe, in 3 volumes). Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/9789812810458_fmatter. ISBN 981-02-4445-2.
• M. Shifman, ed. (2007). Felix Berezin, The Life and Death of the Mastermind of Supermathematics. Singapore: World Scientific. ISBN 978-981270-532-7.
• Shifman, M.; Yung, A. (2009). Supersymmetric Solitons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Shifman, M. (2012). Advanced Topics in Quantum Field Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521190848.
• M. Shifman, ed. (2015). Physics in a Mad World. Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/9281. ISBN 978-981-4619-28-8.
• Shifman, M. (2017). Standing together in Troubled Times. Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/10308. ISBN 978-981-320-100-2.
• A. Gottvald, M. Shifman (2018). George Placzek - A Nuclear Physicist's Odyssey. Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/10900. ISBN 978-981-3236-91-2.
• M. Shifman (2019). Quantum Field Theory II. Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/10825. ISBN 978-981-3234-18-5. S2CID 125450986.
• M. Shifman (2019). Love and Physics - the Peierlses. Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/11266. ISBN 978-981-3279-90-2. S2CID 126288758.
• Shifman, M. (2022). Advanced Topics in Quantum Field Theory, Secon Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-84042-2.

See also

• KSVZ axion (Kim–Shifman–Vainshtein–Zakharov axion model)
• SVZ sum rules (Shifman–Vainshtein–Zakharov sum rules)
• Penguin mechanism
• QCD vacuum
• NSVZ beta function
• Gluon condensation
• Gluino condensation
• Critical (BPS saturated) domain walls in super-Yang–Mills
• Non-Abelian flux tubes in super-Yang–Mills
• Planar equivalence in non-Abelian orientifold theories

References

1. Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V.; Shifman, M. (1975). "A possible mechanism for the Δ T=1/2 rule in nonleptonic decays of strange particles" (PDF). JETP Letters. 22: 55. Bibcode:1975JETPL..22...55V.
   Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1977). "Asymptotic freedom, light quarks and the origin of the Δ T=1/2 rule in the non-leptonic decays of strange particles". Nuclear Physics B. 120 (2): 316. Bibcode:1977NuPhB.120..316S. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(77)90046-3.
   Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1977). "Nonleptonic decays of K mesons and hyperons". Soviet Physics JETP. 45: 670.
2. ^ Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1979). "QCD and resonance physics. theoretical foundations". Nuclear Physics B. 147 (5): 385. Bibcode:1979NuPhB.147..385S. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(79)90022-1.
3. Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1980). "Can confinement ensure natural CP invariance of strong interactions?". Nuclear Physics B. 166 (3): 493. Bibcode:1980NuPhB.166..493S. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(80)90209-6.
4. Novikov, V.; Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1983). "Exact Gell-Mann-Low function of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories from instanton calculus". Nuclear Physics B. 229 (2): 381. Bibcode:1983NuPhB.229..381N. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(83)90338-3.
   Novikov, V.; Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A.; Zakharov, V. (1986). "The beta function in supersymmetric gauge theories. Instantons versus traditional approach". Physics Letters B. 166 (3): 329. Bibcode:1986PhLB..166..329N. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(86)90810-5.
   Shifman, M.; Vainshtein, A. (1988). "On gluino condensation in supersymmetric gauge theories with SU(N) and O(N) groups". Nuclear Physics B. 296 (2): 445. Bibcode:1988NuPhB.296..445S. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(88)90680-3.
5. Shifman, M.; Voloshin, M. (1987). Soviet Journal of Nuclear Physics. 45: 292. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
   Shifman, M.; Voloshin, M. (1988). Soviet Journal of Nuclear Physics. 47: 511. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
   Bigi, I.; Shifman, M.; Uraltsev, N.; Vainshtein, A. (1993). "QCD predictions for lepton spectra in inclusive heavy flavor decays". Physical Review Letters. 71 (4): 496–499. arXiv:hep-ph/9304225. Bibcode:1993PhRvL..71..496B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.496. PMID 10055291. S2CID 14720093.
6. Dvali, G.; Shifman, M. (1997). "Full Length Article". Physics Letters B. 396: 64. arXiv:hep-th/9612128. Bibcode:1997PhLB..396...64D. doi:10.1016/S0370-2693(97)00131-7.
7. Armoni, A.; Shifman, M.; Veneziano, G. (2003). "Exact results in non-supersymmetric large N orientifold field theories". Nuclear Physics B. 667 (1–2): 170–182. arXiv:hep-th/0302163. Bibcode:2003NuPhB.667..170A. doi:10.1016/S0550-3213(03)00538-8. S2CID 15435517.
8. Shifman, M.; Yung, A. (2004). "Non-Abelian string junctions as confined monopoles". Physical Review D. 70 (4): 045004. arXiv:hep-th/0403149. Bibcode:2004PhRvD..70d5004S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.70.045004. S2CID 118956344.
9. UMN BIO Physics Shifman Retrieved April 28, 2019.
10. "UMN CSE Endowed Chairs and Professorship". Archived from the original on 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
11. "2006 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize Recipient". American Physical Society. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
12. "Shifman named Blaise Pascal Chair". University of Minnesota. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
13. ^ Gaal, Rachel (August 16, 2016). "APS Fellows Receive 2016 Dirac Medal and Prize". Retrieved April 28, 2019.
14. "CSE professor Mikhail Shifman elected to the National Academy of Sciences". University of Minnesota. May 3, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
15. "Открытое письмо российских учёных и научных журналистов против войны с Украиной" [An open letter from Russian scientists and scientific journalist against the war in Ukraine] (in Russian). 24 February 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
16. An open letter to the Physics Community from physicists of Russian descent

External links

• 1999 Sakurai Prize citation
• 2006 Lilienfeld Prize citation
• 2007 Chaires Blaise Pascal Archived 2016-09-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Shifman homepage at the University of Minnesota
• BIO at the University of Minnesota
• FTPI homepage at the University of Minnesota
• 2016 Dirac Medal citation
• Interview of Mikhail Shifman by David Zierler on July 7, 2021, Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD USA, www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/47523

• 1949 births
• Living people
• 21st-century American physicists
• 20th-century American Jews
• Fellows of the American Physical Society
• Russian physicists
• Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology alumni
• Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics alumni
• University of Minnesota faculty
• Scientists from Riga
• American theoretical physicists
• J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics recipients
• Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
• 21st-century American Jews
• Jewish American physicists