Produced outstanding research achievements in the field of the polarization phenomenon of arbitrary spin particles Played pioneering role in the advancement of Korea’s particle physics through the establishment of education and research infrastructures
The late Hee Sung Song
Professor Emeritus at the Department of Physics of the Seoul National University
(1937~2016)
- Academic background
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1953~1956
Graduated from Namseong High School in Jeonbuk Province
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1956~1960
B.S. degree in physics from the Seoul National University
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1960~1966
Ph.D. degree in science (Physics) from the Iowa State University, USA
- career
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1966∼1967
Researcher at the Ames National Laboratory (Ames Lab) of the Department of Energy of the USA
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1971~1975
Associate member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
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1975∼2003
Professor of Physics at the College of Natural Sciences of the Seoul National University
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1991~1999
Director of the Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) at the Seoul National University
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2001~2002
The 19th Chairman of the Korean Physical Society
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2002~2003
The 3rd Chairman of the Korean Association of Academic Societies
- Awards received
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1982
Academic Award of the March 1Culture Awards
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1995
Academic Award of the Sejong Culture Awards
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2003
Green Stripes Order of Service Merit
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2010
Sungbong Prize in Physics (Korean Physical Society)
Professor Hee Sung Song is a physicist who led the growth of theoretical physics in Korea by publishing his research results on the polarization phenomenon of arbitrary spin particles in international journals and activating the research community by holding theoretical physics symposiums and operating the Theoretical Physics Research Center.
He was born in Gunsan and graduated from the Department of Physics of the Seoul National University in 1960, and then he studied at the Iowa State University in the USA for his Ph.D. degree, which he attained in 1966 for his research in theoretical particle physics. The research he began on the ‘effects of polarization on the reactions of high-spin particles’ at the Iowa State University became the research topic with of his lifelong interest. After receiving his doctorate, he worked as a researcher at the Ames National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy in Iowa. In 1967, he returned to Korea and was appointed as a professor of the Department of Applied Physics of the College of Engineering at the Seoul National University and, in 1975, a professor of the Department of Physics at the College of Natural Sciences, which was formed through the merger of the Department of Physics of the College of Liberal Arts and Science and the Department of Applied Physics of the College of Engineering.
In the early stage of his tenure at the Seoul National University, he put a lot of efforts in the education of theoretical physics. The Department of Applied Physics of the College of Engineering at the Seoul National University where he taught as a professor for the first time, was founded in 1964 to nurture competent human resources to applying physics to various industries by providing substantial education in physics to students majoring in engineering. Through the collaboration with other professors who specialized in solid-state physics theory and experiments, and atomic nuclear testing as well as the first dean of the Department, Dr. Baek Neung Seong (atomic nuclear testing), he began to provide high-quality theoretical physics education. His mathematical physics lectures were remembered by the students of the time as exciting classes in spite of the poor educational environment. Moreover, the book [Quantum Mechanics] he published in 1984 was the first and best quantum mechanics textbook written in Korean language. This book, as known as ‘The Song’s Quantum Mechanics (“Song Yangja”)’, has been continuously used for more than 40 years as the book is considered as a friendly book that provides detailed explanations of relevant mathematical formulae. In 2002, he published the book [Relativistic Quantum Mechanics: Particle Physics and Polarization] as an advanced quantum mechanics textbook. Furthermore, he taught 33 master students and 11 Ph.D. students in the area of particle physics theory from 1975 until his retirement in 2003.
His key research contribution is that he presented the means of efficiently describing the polarization phenomenon that occurs during the process of collision and collapse of particles. In particular, he specifically presented the covariant polarization density matrices that can be applied to arbitrary spins larger than 1/2 spin particles as an extension of the conventional expression of polarization density matrices of 1/2 spin particles. From the early 1970s, he spent a lot of time in teaching and published a series of papers in the international journal Physical Reviewin spite of trifling available research funds, thereby becoming a role model for later generations. He was perhaps the only physicist in Korea capable of publishing research theses on particle physics in this journal at the time. In 1970, he successfully calculated the covariant polarization density matrices of a particle with 2/3 spin particles and, in 1989, the covariant polarization density matrices of a particle with an arbitrary spin. In 1995, he demonstrated that polarization phenomenon involving a graviton could be analyzed efficiently. Through the process of all these research activities, he played a pioneering role in conducting joint research and international collaborations with his students as well as fellow scientists in Korea and other countries.
In addition to his personal researches, he also played a pioneering role in establishing a research foundation for theoretical physics, especially, particle physics, in Korea by holding theoretical physics symposiums and operating the Center for Theoretical Physicsof the Seoul National University. The theoretical physics symposiums, organized since 1982 with the support of the Daewoo Academic Foundation, were composed of lectures, seminars, and discussions, and became a pivotal point for the research conducted by theoretical physicists in Korea at a time when research support was limited. The Center for Theoretical Physics of the Seoul National University was opened in 1990 as an Science Research Center (SRC) project first implemented in 1990. As the director of the Center from 1991 to 1999, he cultivated human resources and laid the foundation for organized research across all areas of theoretical physics in addition to the domain of particle physics by fostering researchers and conducting academic exchanges in Korea and other countries. The Center for Theoretical Physics has been hosting ‘Gyewon physics lecture for the general public’ since 2017 in commemoration of his contributions to physical research.
He devoted all his life to education and research, and activities in various academic societies were perhaps his only external activities. He spearheaded the establishment of the Particle Physics Division of the Korean Physical Society, served as an editorial board member and vice president before being elected the Chairman of the Society in 2001. Through highly diversified academic events as well as events aimed at the popularization of physics, he had the 50 years of achievements of the Society be known more widely and paved the way for the next quantum jump in physics in Korea. In recognition of his research achievements, and efforts and contributions he made for the advancement of physics, he was elected a member of the Korean Academy of Sciences and Technology (KAST) and the National Academy of Science (NAS) in 1995 and 2014, respectively, and was awarded the March 1 Culture Award (1982), the Sejong Culture Award (1995) and the Green Stripes Order of Service Merit(2003).
Professor Hee Sung Song was a pioneering physicist who majored in particle physics at a time when only a handful of people majored in this field, set an example of excellence in research and teaching for younger students, and elevated Korea’s particle physics and theoretical physics to the international level.
