Walter Greiner


Walter Greiner was a German theoretical physicist. His research interests lay in atomic physics, heavy ion physics, nuclear physics, elementary particle physics. He is known for his series of books in theoretical physics, particularly in Germany but also around the world.

Biography

Greiner was born on 29 October 1935, in Neuenbau, Sonnenberg, Germany.
He studied physics at the University of Frankfurt, receiving a BSci in physics, a master's degree in 1960 with a thesis on Plasma-reactors, and a PhD in 1961 at the University of Freiburg under, with a thesis on the nuclear polarization in μ-mesic atoms. During 1962-1964 he was assistant professor at the University of Maryland, followed by a Research Associate, University of Freiburg, 1964.
Starting in 1965, he became a full professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt until 1995.
Greiner has been a visiting professor to many universities and laboratories, including Florida State University, the University of Virginia, the University of California, the University of Melbourne, Vanderbilt University, Yale University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In 2003, with Wolf Singer, he was the founding Director of the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, and gave lectures and seminars in elementary particle physics. He died on 6 October 2016 at the age of 80.
After his death, several books and articles have been published as a tribute to Walter Greiner.

Graduate students

His doctoral students include Berndt Müller, Johann Rafelski and Horst Stöcker.

Awards

Greiner has received numerous scientific awards, including the Max Born Prize, the Otto Hahn Prize, and the Alexander von Humboldt Medal. Many of his students are holders of chairs at home and abroad or employees at renowned scientific institutions.

Books

Greiner's books cover most of theoretical physics, although there are more in the areas of his research. Following are the English translations of the books. See the :de:Walter Greiner|German Wikipedia for the original German editions.
;Classical theoretical physics series
;Theoretical physics series