Perimeter faculty member Luis Lehner and associate faculty member Cliff Burgess have been named Fellows of the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) for their contributions to the Canadian and international professional physics communities.
Winners of CAP awards were announced in conjunction with the CAP Congress taking place June 22-26 in Ottawa. Neil Turok, now at Edinburgh University and also the Carlo Fidani Roger Penrose Distinguished Visiting Research Chair and former director of Perimeter, gave the Herzberg Memorial Public Lecture on June 22 at Carleton University in Ottawa.
Alongside their achievements in theoretical physics research, both Lehner and Burgess were honoured for their instrumental role in mentoring and guiding students who have moved on into leadership roles in academia and industry in Canada and around the world. They were also both nominated for their championing diversity in physics and for their science outreach endeavours.
Luis Lehner – CAP Fellow
“It is a great honor to be recognized by the Canadian Association of Physicists,” said Lehner, who holds the Carlo Fidani Rainer Weiss Chair in Theoretical Physics at Perimeter. “The CAP represents a vibrant and inspiring physics community, and I am very grateful for this recognition from colleagues whose work and dedication continue to strengthen physics in Canada.”
Lehner pioneered the study of strong gravitational fields through computer simulations. When the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) began scanning the sky for gravitational waves, they had an idea of what to listen for thanks to Lehner’s crucial mathematical insights, descriptions, and modelling techniques. His theoretical groundwork underpins the success of gravitational wave astronomy today.
As a testament to Lehner’s internationally recognized leadership in the field, he was invited, in 2018, to be the sole theory representative on the Gravitational Wave International Committee (GWIC), a standing committee representing all gravitational wave experiments and future detectors around the world. He has served as GWIC’s “resident theorist” ever since.
He is also a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation and has been a member of numerous scientific committees and advisory councils worldwide, including the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) South American Institute for Fundamental Research, the US National Science Foundation, and LIGO.
Alongside Lehner’s many contributions to the physics profession, Lehner has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in teaching and mentorship. He guided many students and postdoctoral fellows to successful research careers over the years, at Louisiana State University, the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, and Perimeter Institute. He has taught more than 30 courses and served as a PhD thesis examiner.
Lehner, who grew up in Argentina, has played an especially important role in fostering connections between Canadian institutions and researchers in Latin America.
Perimeter Executive Director Marcela Carena described Lehner as “a leading light in Canadian theoretical physics.” She said he has consistently demonstrated world-class service and an impressive track record of educational achievement.
“He has raised the physics profession in Canada and globally by contributing to a long list of international professional bodies, committees, and scientific advisory boards, by refereeing for the top physics journals in the world, and by advocating for making physics more inclusive,” Carena said.
Cliff Burgess – CAP Fellow
Burgess, an associate faculty member at Perimeter with a joint appointment McMaster University, is an internationally recognized physicist working in the field of high-energy particle theory.
He was nominated as a theoretical physicist of exceptional breadth and creativity, applying effective field theory techniques to nuclear physics, string theory, early universe cosmology, and condensed matter physics, as well as high-energy physics, and thereby initiating new avenues of research. He is an authority on the development of realistic and testable models of inflation within string theory.
“I am both honoured to join the current ranks of CAP Fellows and am deeply grateful for being elected, and to those institutions (McGill, McMaster and Perimeter) who have given me the freedom and support to follow my nose through the maze of fundamental puzzles,” Burgess said.
In seeking new physics beyond the Standard Model, Burgess has proposed some of the most widely adopted models for dark matter, for dark energy, and for the origins of primordial fluctuations.
In 2001, Burgess and co-authors published a ground-breaking paper proposing an extension of the Standard Model to describe dark matter. It set a benchmark for subsequent dark matter models.
Since then, his work has spawned the vibrant area of open effective field theories (open EFTs) that has applications in areas as wide-ranging as quantum information, gravity, condensed matter, and even quantum computing.
Burgess has had a long association with Perimeter. He was one of the early visiting scientists when the institute began 25 years ago, in a converted post office that was named Spacetime Square.
Burgess has also received a large number of national and international awards, prizes, and recognitions. He was honoured with a James McGill Professorship — McGill University’s internal Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (2003), a Killam Research Fellowship from the National Research Council (2005-2007), and Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada (since 2008). He is also a recipient of the CAP-CRM Prize in Theoretical Physics and is a two-time winner of the Buchalter Cosmology Prize.
In addition to these and other accolades, Burgess has written two textbooks: The Standard Model: A Primer and Introduction to Effective Field Theory, both published by Cambridge University Press. The latter won an Association of American Publishers PROSE award in 2022.
“Cliff Burgess is an enormously innovative and inspirational theoretical physicist. His work is an asset to current and future generations of Canadian and international scientists, making him an ideal candidate for Fellowship in the Canadian Association of Physicists,” said Perimeter Executive Director Marcela Carena .
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
