Holger Bech Nielsens aftrædelsesforelæsning 31. august 2012

Holger Bech Nielsen (born August 25, 1941) has been for many years a professor in theoretical particle physics at NBI, where he started working in 1973, and is since Sept. 1, 2011 professor emeritus, still highly engaged in research.

He has conceived numerous original contributions in theoretical particle physics, and is one of the originators of string theory, which continues to be a very active research area worldwide. Many concepts in high energy physics are named after him, such as the Nielsen-Olesen vortex, the Nielsen-Ninomiya no-go theorem and the Koba-Nielsen variables in string theory.

He has received the highly esteemed Humboldt prize for his scientific work, is member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Norwegian Acadamy of Sciences and Letters. Furthermore, he has been extremely active in popularizing science at many levels.