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<P><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" color=#ff6600
size=4>Illinois physicist elected fellow of American Academy of Arts and
Sciences</FONT></STRONG><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"
color=#000000 size=1><BR></FONT></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#000000
size=1>4/20/09</FONT><BR></P>
<P align=left><FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=1>James E.
Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor<BR>217-244-1073; <A
href="mailto:kloeppel@illinois.edu">kloeppel@illinois.edu</A><A
href="mailto:andreal@uiuc.edu"><BR></A></FONT><BR><FONT
face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —</FONT> <FONT
face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size=2>Eduardo H. Fradkin, a professor of <A
href="http://www.physics.illinois.edu/">physics</A> at the University of
Illinois, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.<BR><BR>Election to the American Academy is an honor that acknowledges
the best of all scholarly fields and professions. Among the academy’s 210 other
new fellows are U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Nobel laureate Nelson
Mandela, Civil War historian James McPherson, and actors Dustin Hoffman and
James Earl Jones. They will be inducted Oct. 10 during ceremonies at the
academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.<BR><BR>“Professor Fradkin is an
internationally recognized leader in theoretical physics who has made profound
contributions to the application of quantum field theory to condensed matter
physics,” said Richard Herman, the chancellor of the Urbana campus. “His
election is yet another sign of a distinguished career and is a great source of
pride to our institution.”<BR><BR>In his early work, Fradkin pioneered the use
of concepts from condensed matter physics and statistical physics to problems in
quantum field theory and high-energy physics. One of his most important results
was the proof that when matter fields carry the fundamental unit of charge, the
Higgs and confinement phases of gauge theories are smoothly connected and are as
different as a liquid is from a gas. This result remains a cornerstone in our
understanding of the phases of gauge theories and a lasting contribution to
elementary particle physics.<BR><BR>More recently, Fradkin’s unique perspective
allowed him to apply results from quantum field theory to condensed matter
physics. He was one of the first theorists to use gauge theory concepts in the
theory of spin glasses, and to use concepts of chaos and non-linear systems in
equilibrium statistical mechanics of frustrated systems.<BR><BR>Fradkin also
pioneered the use of Dirac fermions for condensed matter physics problems,
particularly in two dimensions. A prime example is his work on Dirac fermions on
random fields, which is now regarded as the universality class of the transition
between quantum Hall plateaus in the integer Hall effect.<BR><BR>Another major
achievement of Fradkin’s research has been the development, in collaboration
with former graduate student Ana Lopez, of the fermion Chern-Simons field theory
of the fractional quantum Hall effect. This theory, and its subsequent
extensions by Fradkin and his collaborators to the non-Abelian quantum hall
states, has played a key role in current research efforts in the theory of
topological quantum computing.<BR><BR>Fradkin, in collaboration with Steven
Kivelson (Stanford University) and the late Victor Emery (Brookhaven National
Laboratory), developed the concept of electronic liquid crystal phases in
strongly correlated electronic systems. This theory is one of the leading
proposals to explain the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, and it
is the focus of a current major experimental research effort.<BR><BR>Fradkin is
a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Asociación Física
Argentina (Argentine Physical Association) and an editor of the Journal of
Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment.<BR><BR>Fradkin earned his master’s
degree in physics in 1973 from Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and his
doctorate in physics in 1979 from Stanford. He came to Illinois as a
postdoctoral research associate in 1979, and joined the faculty in
1981.<BR><BR>The American Academy was founded in 1780 by John Adams, John
Hancock and other scholar-patriots “to cultivate every art and science which may
tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free,
independent and virtuous people.”<BR><BR>The academy has more than 4,000 fellows
and 600 foreign honorary members, which includes more than 250 Nobel laureates
and 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. The academy focuses its research on international
security, social policy, education and the humanities.
</FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dr.Gabriel M. Bilmes<BR>Centro de Investigaciones
Opticas (CONICET-CIC)<BR>Casilla de correo Nş3<BR>C.P.1897 Gonnet, Bs.As.
Argentina<BR>T.E 54-221-471-5249<BR>Fax 54-221- 471-2771<BR>Mail: <A
href="mailto:gabrielb@ciop.unlp.edu.ar">gabrielb@ciop.unlp.edu.ar</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>