David Fairlie
David B. Fairlie is a British mathematician and theoretical physicist, Professor Emeritus at the
University of Durham.
He was educated in mathematical physics at the University of Edinburgh,
and he earned a PhD at the University of Cambridge in 1960, under the
supervision of John Polkinghorne. After postdoctoral training at Princeton University
and Cambridge, he was lecturer in St. Andrews and at Durham University
, retiring as Professor.
He has made numerous influential contributions in particle and mathematical physics,
notably in the early formulation of string theory, as well as the determination of the weak mixing angle in extra dimensions, infinite-dimensional Lie algebras, classical solutions of gauge theories,
higher-dimensional
gauge theories, and
phase [space formulation|deformation quantization].
He has co-authored several volumes, notably on quantum mechanics in phase space.