Sergio Ferrara

Sergio Ferrara (born May 2, 1945) is an Italian physicist working on theoretical physics of elementary particles and mathematical physics. He is renowned for the discovery of theories introducing supersymmetry as a symmetry of elementary particles (super-Yang–Mills theories, together with Bruno Zumino) and of supergravity, the first significant extension of Einstein's general relativity, based on the principle of "local supersymmetry" (together with Daniel Z. Freedman, and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen). He is an emeritus staff member at CERN and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Sergio Ferrara was born on 2 May 1945 in Rome, Italy. He graduated from the University of Rome in 1968. Since then he has worked as a CNEN and INFN researcher at the Frascati National Laboratories; as a CNRS Visiting Scientist at the Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and at the Theory Division at CERN, Geneva.

In 1971–1975, Sergio Ferrara did pioneering work on Conformal Field Theory and the Conformal bootstrap. In a series of papers written in collaboration with Raoul Gatto, Aurelio Grillo and Giorgio Parisi, he studied constraints imposed by conformal symmetry on the operator dimensions, the form of the correlation functions, the operator product expansion, and the conformal partial wave expansion for the four-point correlation functions of the theory. This work, together with the contemporaneous work by Alexander Polyakov, laid the foundations of Conformal Field Theory.

In 1976, Sergio Ferrara, Daniel Z. Freedman, and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen discovered Supergravity at Stony Brook University in New York. It was initially proposed as a four-dimensional theory. The theory of supergravity generalizes Einstein's general theory of relativity by incorporating the principles of supersymmetry.

In 1980 he was made a full professor of theoretical physics in Italy. He became a staff member of the Theory Division at CERN in 1981. In 1985, he became a Professor of Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 1986 he has been a senior staff member of the Physics Department at CERN. During the years 2010-2014 he has been a Guest Professor at CERN as Principal Investigator of the European Research Council Advanced Grant SUPERFIELDS. He is currently a senior staff member, emeritus, at CERN.

• Prix Scientifique de l'UAP, 1991, Paris.

"For contributions to Conformal Field Theory and to the discovery of Supergravity"

• Dirac Medal, 1993, ICTP, Trieste. (Shared with Daniel Z. Freedman, and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen)

"For their discovery of supergravity theory in 1976 and their major contributions in the subsequent developments of the theory. Their discovery led to an explosion of interest in quantum gravity and it transformed the subject, playing a significant role in very important developments in string theory as well as Kaluza-Klein theory"

• Honorary Laurea in Physics, 2005, from the University of Rome "Tor Vergata".
• Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, 2006, American Physical Society. (Shared with Daniel Z. Freedman, and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen)

"For constructing supergravity, the first supersymmetric extension of Einstein's theory of general relativity, and for their central role in its subsequent development."

• Enrico Fermi Prize, 2005, Societa' Italiana di Fisica.

"He honoured italian physics with his discoveries, substantially contributing to the discoveries leading to the development of modern gravity theories. For his contribution to the discovery of supergravity theory."

• Amaldi medal, 2008, SIGRAV,

"For his relevant contributions to supergravity models, their matter couplings and their implications for black hole physics, such as the attractor mechanism"

• Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 2010.

"For services in Theoretical Physics."

• Margherita Hack Prize for Science (INAF and Italian Ministry of Culture, Spoleto, 2015)
• JINR Medal of Honour (Dubna, 2015)
• Ettore Majorana Medal (EMFCSC,Erice, 2016)
• Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2016)

• "People: ICTP Trieste Dirac medallists get together". CERN Courier. 41 (1): 36. January 2001. 
• "Faces and places: APS honours particle physicists". CERN Courier. 46 (5): 42. June 2006. 
• "Sergio Ferrara". CERN Bulletin. 28-29/2009. 6 July 2009.