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With great almost unbearable sadness I have to inform you of a sudden death of Mikhail (Misha) Voloshin, one of great theorists of the golden age of HEP. He was born in 1953 in the Soviet Union. He appeared in the ITEP Theory Department very early in his career. His first student work (suggested to him by Okun and Kobzarev) was the false vacuum decay. He brilliantly solved this problem within a week, thus creating a beautiful theory of this phenomenon (independently and before Coleman). I vividly remember this fateful week and the excitement that followed.

Misha's career started right around the time of the discovery of the J/psi in November 1974 (The November Revolution). He became one of QCD's leading practicioners. He was a standard bearer in this area till his last days. He was a resource for both experimentalists and theorists throughout the world. He combined extremely high standards and principles with passion to physics as an experiment-based science. He hated questionable arguments and unsubstantiated assumptions.

In fact Misha was a universalist who thoroughly knew not only HEP, but all basic aspects of physics, he felt physics laws with his heart.

I and all my colleagues at FTPI will miss him. This is an understatement. Misha died on March 20, 2020 from heart failure. In fact, he was fighting lymphoma for some time.

-Misha Shifman

Photo credit

Misha Shifman

The William I. Fine Theoretical Physics Institute (FTPI) was established in 1987 as part of the School of Physics and Astronomy, with the goal of conducting research in theoretical physics at a world-class level.

The most important function of FTPI is to produce significant, exciting and sound theoretical physics that will have an impact on physics as a whole. To this end the Institute provides a meeting place for theorists from around the globe to exchange and develop ideas.

FTPI sponsors several workshops annually and runs ongoing programs, such as the visiting short- and long-term scholar program. Through these and other outreach programs, the Institute serves to advance theoretical physics and to further develop its links to other science and engineering research disciplines, industrial research initiatives, and other academic sectors

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, FTPI will be working remotely for the next few weeks. Stay up to date on the University's policies by visiting the U's Safe Campus site.