National Post (National Edition)
Physicist revealed mysteries of universe
Helped discover top quark, Higgs boson
Martinus J.G. Veltman, the Dutch theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize for major contributions to the standard model of particle physics, which explains the structure and workings of the universe, died Jan. 4 at home in the Netherlands. He was 89.
Veltman made his most significant contribution in helping clear away mathematical roadblocks to the full flowering of the standard model. This has been regarded as pointing to and making possible major advances in physics, including discovery of the top quark — one of the fundamental building blocks of matter — and of the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle sometimes seen as the key to the existence of the universe.
Veltman shared the Nobel with Dutch theoretical physicist Gerardus 't Hooft at Utrecht University, who studied and researched under Veltman.
Among Veltman's specific developments was an early computer program that helped overcome a daunting roadblock in efforts to build the standard model.
Known as Schoonschip, the program brought him recognition for enabling computers to operate on the symbols of mathematics, just as they were becoming known for manipulating numerical data.
But the goal was to probe the mysteries of the universe.
Their mathematical system made calculation possible without the values of important terms showing up as infinite. Among physicists, clearing away these infinities is known as renormalization and is basic in many important areas of research.
Martinus Justinus Godefriedus Veltman was born June 27, 1931, in Waalwijk, Netherlands.
He began the study of math and physics at Utrecht University in 1948 and, after receiving a master's degree and fulfilling his military obligation, returned to receive his PhD in 1963. He later became a member of the faculty, where he supervised 't Hooft.
During a long American interlude, he served on the physics faculty at the University of Michigan, from 1981 to 1997.
Survivors include his wife, Anneke; three children; and three grandchildren.