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1. Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 14:27:43 UTC Robert McNees

   Mathematical physicist Cécile DeWitt-Morette was born #OTD in 1922. She made foundational contributions to the study of Feynman functional integrals, organized the first American conference on general relativity (playing an indirect but important role in the eventual detection of gravitational waves), and started the Les Houches Summer School.
   Images: UT-Austin

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 14:33:13 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Cécile Morette grew up in Normandy, studying math and physics at the University of Caen. Her graduate work, on quantum mechanics, took place at the University of Paris. Much of her education took place during the German occupation of WWII.

     While in Paris, she worked with Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. After finishing her doctorate in 1947, she moved to Copenhagen to work with Neils Bohr. Her next stop was the Institute for Advanced Study, where she worked with Robert Oppenheimer.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 14:34:03 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     (That is already quite a who’s who of physicists from the first half of the 20th century.)

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 14:37:18 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     It was at the IAS that Cécile met Bryce DeWitt. She liked him pretty well, and he proposed to her in 1951. But she turned him down because he wasn’t French.

     Eventually, though, she reconsidered. The war had taken a great toll on French science. Cécile decided that she would accept Bryce's proposal, on the condition that he help her found a school for theoretical physics in France.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 14:40:49 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     The Les Houches Summer School was established in April of 1951, and Cécile and Bryce were married later that month.

     https://www.houches-school-physics.com/ecole-de-physique-des-houches/home-ecole-les-houches-1066564.kjsp

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:44:06 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     In 1956, Bryce and Cécile moved to North Carolina, where they co-founded UNC's Institute of Field Physics. They organized the first US conference on general relativity, which was held there in 1957.

     Cécile invited Richard Feynman to the conference, where he gave a famous talk on gravitational waves.

     Feynman's “sticky bead” argument convinced the other participants that gravitational waves carried energy, and therefore could be detected. His remarks:
     https://edition-open-sources.org/sources/5/34/index.html

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:46:35 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • LIGO

     Cécile's conference, as much as any other event, set physicists on the path that would eventually lead to @LIGO and the detection of gravitational waves in 2015.

     The conference report is online and open access. You can read or download a copy here:
     https://edition-open-sources.org/sources/5/index.html

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:47:32 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Cécile and Bryce were both appointed “research professor” when they arrived at UNC.

     After a few years, Bryce was promoted to full professor. But Cécille, who had brought in the same grants and made comparable contributions, was demoted to lecturer.

     The University claimed that the demotion was because of nepotism rules, but when pressed they were unable to point to any actual regulations.

     Cécile and Bryce noped right out of there and headed for Texas.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:48:07 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     UT-Austin had its own nepotism rules, which they circumvented by making Cécile a professor in Astronomy instead of Physics. About ten years later, in 1983, they ditched the rules and made Cécile a professor in the Physics department.

     While at UT, Cécile worked on methods of functional integration underlying Feynman's path integral approach to quantum mechanics, and a host of other topics.

   • PhDog (dogfox@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:52:05 UTC PhDog

     in reply to

     @mcnees I've been there! It was great. Although during the tea breaks I'd look out over the valley and think it was a crime we weren't doing any painting...

   • Fernanda Foertter ✪ (hpcprogrammer@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 15:59:02 UTC Fernanda Foertter ✪

     in reply to

     @mcnees I love that you brought this series here. Thanks 🙏

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:00:10 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     It was there that Cécile wrote her book "Analysis, Manifolds, and Physics" with Yvonne Choquet-Brouhat and Margaret Dillard-Bleick.

     The first edition came out in 1977, followed by a revised version in 1982. You'll find a copy on the shelves of most mathematical physicists.

     The acknowledgements page features this fanciful drawing of the three authors riding what I guess is the snail of real analysis? I don't know, whatever it is, I love it.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:02:21 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Cécile worked on whatever she found interesting, and she was famous for having a seemingly inexhaustible supply of thesis-level problems for curious students.

     She had a "problem drawer" in one of her file cabinets — it may very well have been one of the drawers visible in this photo from the first tweet. When Cécile met with a new student, she'd pull something from the drawer for them to work on.

   • Fernanda Foertter ✪ (hpcprogrammer@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:06:20 UTC Fernanda Foertter ✪

     in reply to

     @mcnees to read about progressive partners is refreshing.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:06:45 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Many of my grad school friends (I did my PhD at UT-Austin, in an office around the corner from her) worked with Cécile and wrote papers on problems pulled from her drawer:
     https://arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0012006

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:07:34 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Cécile DeWitt-Morette, a towering figure of mathematical physics, was generous, approachable, and brilliant. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 94.

     UT-Austin put together this extensive online memorial about Cécile DeWitt-Morette's life and scientific contributions:
     https://web2.ph.utexas.edu/utphysicshistory/CecileDeWittMorette.html

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:08:17 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     There was also an excellent piece in Physics Today, "Snapshots from the life of Cécile DeWitt-Morette," a few months after she passed away.

     https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.4.20171010a/full/

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:12:18 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     Finally, this isn't physics, but I think it's a delightful anecdote.

     In her late 80s, Cécile wanted to learn more about computers and the internet. But she found most books and advice frustrating, and not suited to the way she learned. She decided to write a book for folks in the same boat.

     "IT for Intelligent Grandmothers" was sold to raise money for Planned Living Assistance Network of Central Texas, a group Cécile was involved with. The cover is absolutely perfect.

   • Andy Beaton✅ (aiabx@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 16:49:55 UTC Andy Beaton✅

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     @mcnees I always hated the "For Dummies" thing.

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 23:56:41 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • Shit Management Says

     @Shitmgmtsays omg

   • Shit Management Says (shitmgmtsays@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Dec-2022 23:56:42 UTC Shit Management Says

     in reply to

     @mcnees not that related, but there is a wonderful book, Do Not Erase, featuring chalkboard sketches of math professors

     https://a.co/d/ggNGn7R

   • Robert McNees (mcnees@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Dec-2023 15:15:39 UTC Robert McNees

     in reply to

     • BunnyMama

     @BunnyMama Thanks! Looks like they moved it to a new server.

   • BunnyMama (bunnymama@sfba.social)'s status on Thursday, 21-Dec-2023 15:15:40 UTC BunnyMama

     in reply to

     @mcnees

     Thank you for the wonderful story. Can you check your URL? I get a 404-not found message :-(.

     I did find this: https://www.utphysicshistory.net/CecileDeWittMorette.html

     🐇