Francisco José Ynduráin

Francisco José Ynduráin
Born	23 December 1940 Benavente, Zamora, Spain
Died	6 June 2008 (aged 67) Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Alma mater	University of Zaragoza

Francisco José Ynduráin Muñoz (23 December 1940 – 6 June 2008) was a Spanish theoretical physicist. He founded the particle physics research group that became the Department of Theoretical Physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid, where he was a Professor.^[1] He was described by his colleagues as "a scientist that always searched for excellence in research".^[2]

Early life

Yndurain was born in Benavente (Zamora) and grew up in Saragossa. After graduating from Saragossa’s San Agustin High school, he received his M.S. degree in mathematics in 1962 and in 1964 his PhD in physics. He obtained both degrees from the University of Zaragoza (Spain).

While completing his doctoral studies, he was a visiting scientist at CERN and a Teaching Assistant at the University of Zaragoza (Spain).

Career

Ynduráin was an associate professor at the University of Zaragoza until 1966. He was a researcher at New York University from 1966 to 1968, at which point he moved to Geneva to become a research fellow at CERN until 1970. He was a Researcher at CERN from then on, as a Senior Scientific Associate (1976–1992), and as a member of the Scientific Policy committee (1988–1994).

In 1970 he took the professor position in Madrid (at the Complutense University and immediately after at the Autonomous University of Madrid) where he founded and headed the Particle Physics Research group.^[3] He was Director of the Department of Theoretical Physics (1974–1977 and 1981–1984), Dean of the Faculty of Science (1975) and Deputy President (1978–1981) of the Autonomous University of Madrid.

He also held other short term appointments at other universities worldwide:

• Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela (1967).
• Paris-Sud 11 University, Paris, France (1969 and 1970).
• University of Groningen, Netherlands (1973).
• Université de Marseille, Marseille, France (1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982)
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2001).
• National University of La Plata, Argentina (1994).
• Princeton University, New Jersey, USA (2008).

He collaborated with other research centers:

• Brookhaven National Laboratory (1984).
• National Institute for Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics NIKHEF, 1997 and 2001).
• Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (1980 and 1982).
• Centro lationamericano de Física in Bogotá, Colombia (1985, 1986 and 1987).^[4]

He was a member of the Royal Spanish Physical Society,^[5] Royal Academy of Exact Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain,^[6] where he was president of the Physics and Chemistry section from 2002 to 2006. He was also member of the American Physical Society, founding member of the European Physical Society and member of the European Academy of Sciences energy committee. In 2004 he was nominated general secretary of the Instituto de España.

Works

In 1983, Yndurain published a widely used book advanced textbook on quantum field theory for graduate students, Quantum Chromodynamics: An Introduction to the Theory of Quarks and Gluons. The book has been translated into Russian as Kvantovaia Khromodinamika. The book was expanded twice: once in 1996 as Relativistic Quantum Mechanics and Introduction to Field Theory, and again in 1999 as The Theory of Quark and Gluon Interactions.

Yndurain also wrote books on science for a broader audience. In 1997 he published a book discussing UFOs theories, Quién anda ahí?, which won the Golondriz award for smart humor in 1998. In 2002 he published a book about the structure of matter entitled Electrones, neutrinos y quarks. Finally, in 2004 he published a book about science, scientists and history entitled Los desafíos de la ciencia.

Awards

• 1986: Nominated Cavaliere Ufficiale nell’Ordine al Merito,one of the main Italian orders of merit.
• 1990: Annual Award of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences.
• 1992: Elected Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.^[7]
• 1994: Nominated Distinguished Guest by the University of La Plata
• 1995: Elected member of European Academy of Sciences and Arts
• 2001: Nominated member of The World Innovation Foundation.^[8]
• 2003: Gold medal for scientific excellence of the Spanish Academy of Physics.

Selected articles

Yndurain was an expert in quantum field theory and its application to elementary particles.^[9] He authored or co-authored more than 100 scientific papers on high energy physics, nuclear physics and mathematical physics.

• Second Order Contributions to the Structure Functions in Deep Inelastic Scattering. 1. Theoretical Calculations.

Antonio Gonzalez-Arroyo, C. Lopez, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . 1979. Published in Nucl.Phys.B153:161–186,1979.

• Light Quark Masses in Quantum Chromodynamics and Chiral Symmetry Breaking.

C. Becchi (Genoa U.), Stephan Narison (ICTP, Trieste), E. de Rafael, F.J. Yndurain (CERN) . CERN-TH-2920, Aug 1980. 42pp. Published in Z.Phys.C8:335,1981.

• The Hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.

J.F. de Troconiz, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . FTUAM-04-02, Feb 2004. 22pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D71:073008,2005. e-Print: hep-ph/0402285

• Rigorous QCD evaluation of spectrum and ground state properties of heavy q anti-q systems: With a precision determination of m(b) M(eta(b)).

S. Titard, F.J. Yndurain (Michigan U. & Madrid, Autonoma U.) . UM-TH-93-25, Sep 1993. 50pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D49:6007–6025,1994. e-Print: hep-ph/9310236

• Calculation of quarkonium spectrum and m(b), m(c) to order alpha-s**4.

A. Pineda (Barcelona U.), F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . UB-ECM-PF-97-34, FTUAM-97-15, Nov 1997. 11pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D58:094022,1998. e-Print: hep-ph/9711287

• Precision determination of the pion form-factor and calculation of the muon g-2.

J.F. De Troconiz, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . FTUAM-01-08, May 2001. 28pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D65:093001,2002. e-Print: hep-ph/0106025

• Reconstruction of the Deep Inelastic Structure Functions from their Moments.

F.J. Yndurain (CERN & Madrid, Autonoma U.) . CERN-TH-2430, Nov 1977. 12pp. Published in Phys.Lett.B74:68,1978.

• Matter Instability In The Su(5) Unified Model Of Strong, Weak And Electromagnetic Interactions.

C. Jarlskog, F.J. Yndurain (CERN) . CERN-TH-2556, Sep 1978. 13pp. Published in Nucl.Phys.B149:29,1979.

• How To Look For Squark With The Anti-P P Collider.

M.j. Herrero, Luis e. Ibanez, C. Lopez, F.j. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . 1983. Published in Phys.Lett.B132:199–201,1983.

• Behavior at x = 0, 1, sum rules and parametrizations for structure functions beyond the leading order

C. Lopez (Madrid, Autonoma U.), F.J. Yndurain (CERN) . CERN-TH-2930, Aug 1980. 33pp. Published in Nucl.Phys.B183:157,1981.

• Behavior Of Deep Inelastic Structure Functions Near Physical Region Endpoints From Qcd.

C. Lopez, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . FTUAM/79-08, Oct 1979. 41pp. Published in Nucl.Phys.B171:231,1980.

• Squark production and signals at the anti-p p collider.

M.J. Herrero, Luis E. Ibanez, C. Lopez, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . FTUAM 84/9, Jun 1984. 9pp. Published in Phys.Lett.B145:430,1984.

• Computation Of The Relation Between The Quark Masses In Lattice Gauge Theories And On The Continuum.

Antonio Gonzalez Arroyo, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.), G. Martinelli (Frascati) . LNF-82/33-P, May 1982. 7pp. Published in Phys.Lett.B117:437,1982, Erratum-ibid.B122:486,1983.

• Second Order Contributions To The Structure Functions In Deep Inelastic Scattering. Ii. Comparison With Experiment For The Nonsinglet Contributions To E, Mu Nucleon Scattering.

Antonio Gonzalez-Arroyo (CERN), C. Lopez, F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . 1979. Published in Nucl.Phys.B159:512–527,1979.

• The Pion-pion scattering amplitude.

J.R. Pelaez (Madrid U.), F.J. Yndurain (Madrid, Autonoma U.) . FTUAM-04-14, Nov 2004. 44pp. Published in Phys.Rev.D71:074016,2005. e-Print: hep-ph/0411334

References

1. Department of Theoretical Physics at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
2. Antonio González Arroyo and J. L. Sánchez Gómez, "Un investigador científico que siempre buscó la excelencia", El País, 7 June 2008 (accessed 9 October 2008).
3. Martinus J. G. Veltman, Nobel Prize Autobiography.
4. Centro lationamericano de Física.
5. Royal Spanish Physical Society.
6. Royal Academy of Exact Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain
7. Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.
8. The World Innovation Foundation.
9. Alberto Galindo Tixaire, "IN MEMORIAM: Excmo. Sr. D. Francisco Ynduráin Muñoz (1940–2008)", 1 July 2008 (accessed 10 October 2008).

External links

• Scientific publications of Francisco José Ynduráin on INSPIRE-HEP