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Hiroomi Umezawa
Hiroomi Umezawa
Born	September 20, 1924; Kurihashi, Saitama, Japan
Died	March 24, 1995 (aged 70); Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Alma mater	Nagoya University, Japan; University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; University of Alberta, Canada
Known for	Quantum field theory
Awards	Killam Memorial Chair, University of Alberta
	Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical physics
Institutions	University of Tokyo, Japan; University of Naples, Italy

Hiroomi Umezawa (梅沢博臣, Umezawa Hiroomi) (September 20, 1924 – March 24, 1995) was a physicist and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee^[1] and later at the University of Alberta. He is known for his fundamental contributions to quantum field theory and for his work on quantum phenomena in relation to the mind.

Education, career and work

Umezawa obtained his PhD from Nagoya University, Japan in 1952. He worked at the University of Tokyo, Japan, and the University of Naples, Italy, and took up a position as professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) in 1966, already considered a famous physicist at the time.^[1] He joined the University of Alberta, Canada, in 1975 when he took the Killam Memorial Chair as Professor of Physics, a position which he held until his retirement in 1992.^[1]^[2]

Umezawa is recognized as one of the eminent quantum field theorists of his generation.^[1] He applied his results in quantum field theory also to high energy physics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics and statistical physics, as well as his considerations of quantum theory and the mind.^[1]

In 1967, together with L.M. Ricciardi, he proposed a quantum theory of the brain which posits a spatially distributed charge formation exhibiting spontaneous breakdowns at micro levels as the basis for processing at macro levels. In this model, the information resides in the virtual field associated with the dynamics of the cellular matter. This model was subsequently expanded by Stuart, Takahashi and Umezawa with their proposal of the development of long range correlations among neurons due to the interaction of two quantum fields. The approach was built upon by many others, including Karl H. Pribram, and was later expanded by Giuseppe Vitiello to a dissipative quantum model of brain.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Umezawa's scientific work has been characterized by his colleagues at UWM as "marked by extreme originality".^[1]

Memorial fund

After his death in 1995, Umezawa's family, friends and students set up the Umezawa Fund at the University of Alberta in his memory, dedicated to support studies in physics; among the Memorial Distinguished Visitors has been physicist Gordon Baym of the University of Illinois in 2007.^[6]

Publications

Books on quantum theory

H Umezawa; A Arimitsu, et al. (eds.): Selected papers of Hiroomi Umezawa, Tokyo, Japan (Published by Editorial Committee for Selected Papers of Hiroomi Umezawa), 2001
Hiroomi Umezawa: Advanced Field Theory: Micro, Macro, and Thermal Physics, American Institute of Physics, 1993, ISBN 978-1563960819
Hiroomi Umezawa, Giuseppe Vitiello: Quantum Mechanics, Bibliopolis, 1985
Hiroomi Umezawa, H. Matsumoto, Masashi Tachiki: Thermo field dynamics and condensed states, North-Holland Publishing Company, 1982, ISBN 978-0444863614
Hiroomi Umezawa: Quantum Field Theory, North-Holland Publishing Co., 1956

Articles on the quantum theory of mind:

C.I.J. Stuart, Y. Takahashi, H. Umezawa (1979): Mixed system brain dynamics: neural memory as a macroscopic ordered state, Foundations of Physics, vol. 9, pp. 301–307
C.I.J. Stuart, Y. Takahashi, H. Umezawa (1978): On the stability and non-local properties of memory, Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 31, pp. 605–618
L.M. Ricciardi, U. Umezawa (1967): Brain physics and many-body problems, Kibernetik, vol. 4, pp. 44–48

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Memorial resolution: Professor Hiroomi Umezawa, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Document no. 2007, September 21, 1995 (downloaded October 21, 2012)
^ Killam Memorial Chairs Archived 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, University of Alberta (downloaded 201 October 2012)
^ Vitiello, Giuseppe (1995). "Dissipation and Memory Capacity in the Quantum Brain Model". International Journal of Modern Physics B. 09 (8): 973–989. arXiv:quant-ph/9502006. Bibcode:1995IJMPB...9..973V. doi:10.1142/S0217979295000380. S2CID 14649535.
^ Vitiello, Giuseppe (2001). My Double Unveiled. Advances in Consciousness Research. Vol. 32. doi:10.1075/aicr.32. ISBN 978-90-272-5152-7.
^ Pessa, Eliano; Vitiello, Giuseppe (2003). "Quantum noise, entanglement and chaos in the quantum field theory of mind/Brain states". Mind and Matter. 1: 59. arXiv:q-bio/0309009. Bibcode:2003q.bio.....9009P.
^ Annual Report of the University of Physics Institute, University of Alberta, for the period of July 1, 2006 - December 31, 2008, published March 2010, page 13 (downloaded October 21, 2012)