American theoretical physicist (1929–2019)
Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was a US theoretical physicist who played a preeminent role in the development of the theory of elementary particles . Gell-Mann introduced the concept of quarks as the fundamental building blocks of the strongly interacting particles, and the renormalization group as a foundational element of quantum field theory and statistical mechanics .[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] Murray Gell-Mann received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions.[ 7]
Gell-Mann played key roles in developing the concept of chirality in the theory of the weak interactions and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in the strong interactions , which controls the physics of the light mesons . In the 1970s he was a co-inventor of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) which explains the confinement of quarks in mesons and baryons and forms a large part of the Standard Model of elementary particles and forces.[ 8]
^ "Professor Murray Gell-Mann ForMemRS" . London: Royal Society . Archived from the original on November 17, 2015.
^ a b c d e f g Murray Gell-Mann at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
^ Johnson, George (May 24, 2019). "Murray Gell-Mann, Who Peered at Particles and Saw the Universe, Dies at 89" . Obituaries. The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019 .
^ Hill, Christopher T. (2020). "Murray Gell-Mann" . Physics Today . 73 (5): 63. Bibcode :2020PhT....73e..63H . doi :10.1063/PT.3.4480 .
^ "Caltech Mourns the Passing of Murray Gell-Mann (1929–2019)" . California Institute of Technology . May 24, 2019. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved May 25, 2019 .
^ Carroll, Sean (May 28, 2019). "The Physicist Who Made Sense of the Universe - Murray Gell-Mann's discoveries illuminated the most puzzling aspects of nature, and changed science forever" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2019 .
^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1969" . NobelPrize.org . Retrieved July 27, 2025 .
^ "Gell-Mann Formulates the Theory of Quantum Chromodynamics | EBSCO Research Starters" . www.ebsco.com . Retrieved July 27, 2025 .