Abdus Salam

For other people with the name, see Abdus Salam (name).

Abdus Salam
File:Abdus salam.gif
Born	January 29, 1926 Jhang, Punjab, British Raj
Died	November 21, 1996(1996-11-21) (aged 70) Oxford, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	Pakistani
Citizenship	Pakistani
Alma mater	University of the Punjab Government College St John's College, Cambridge
Known for	Electroweak theory Pati-Salam model Quantum mechanics Nuclear Detterent Program Pakistan's Space Program
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physics (1979) Smith's Prize Adams Prize Nishan-e-Imtiaz (1979) Sitara-e-Pakistan (1959)
Scientific career
Fields	Theoretical Physics
Institutions	Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) Punjab University Imperial College, London Government College University of Cambridge International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) COMSATS TWAS Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute
Doctoral advisor	Nicholas Kemmer Paul Matthews
Doctoral students	Michael Duff Walter Gilbert John Moffat Yuval Ne'eman John Polkinghorne Riazuddin Fayyazuddin Masud Ahmad Ghulam Murtaza Munir Ahmad Rashid
Other notable students	Munir Ahmad Khan Faheem Hussain Pervez Hoodbhoy Abdul Hameed Nayyar

Mohammad Abdus Salam (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام) (January 29, 1926; Jhang, Punjab, British Raj (present-day Pakistan) – November 21, 1996; Oxford, England) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work on the unification of the electromagnetic and weak forces. Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg shared the 1979 prize for this discovery.

Salam holds the distinction of being the first Pakistani and the first Muslim Nobel Laureate to receive the prize in the sciences. Abdus Salam was a science advisor to the Government of Pakistan from 1960 till 1974, in which, he played a major and influential role in Pakistan's science infrastructure. Abdus Salam is responsible for not only major development and contribution in theoretical and particle physics, but as well as promoting scientific research at maximum level in his country. Salam was the founding director of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), and responsible for the establishment of the Theoretical Physics Group (TPG) in Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). In 1974, Abdus Salam left Pakistan in protest when Pakistan Parliament declared Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as Non-Muslims. Even after his death, Salam remained one of the most influential scientists in his country. In 1998, following the country's nuclear tests, the Government of Pakistan a commemorative stamp, as a part of "Scientists of Pakistan", to honour the services of Abdus Salam.

Salam's major and notable achievements include Pati-Salam model, Magnetic photon, Vector meson, Grand Unified Theory, work on the quarks and the global symmetry, and most importantly Electroweak theory, for which he was awarded the most prestigious award in Physics — the Nobel Prize. With his student, Riazuddin, Abdus Salam made important contributions to the modern theory on neutrinos, neutron stars and black holes, as well as the work on modernizing the quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. As a teacher and science promoter, Salam is remembered as a founder and scientific father of mathematical and theoretical physics in Pakistan while his stay as Science advisor. Salam heavily contributed to the rise of Pakistani physics to the Physics community in the world. Even until his death, Salam continued to contribute in physics and tirelessly advocated for the development of science in third world countries.

Biography

Youth and education

Abdus Salam was born in small town of Jhang, in 1926. Salam's father was an education officer in the Department of Education of British Punjab State in a poor farming district. Salam's family had a long tradition of piety and passion for learning.

At age fourteen, Salam scored the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination at the Punjab University. He won a full scholarship to the Government College University of Lahore, British Punjab State. Salam was a versatile scholar, interested in English literature in which he excelled. But, soon picked up Mathematics as his concentration As a fourth-year student there, he published his work on Srinivasa Ramanujan's problems in mathematics, and took his B.A. in Mathematics in 1944. He received his M.A. in Mathematics from the Government College University in 1946. That same year, he was awarded a scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge University, where he completed a BA degree with Double First-Class Honours in Mathematics and Physics in 1949. In 1950, he received the Smith's Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to Physics.

He obtained a Ph.D degree in Theoretical Physics from Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. His doctoral thesis contained comprehensive and fundamental work in Quantum Electrodynamics. By the time it was published in 1951, it had already gained him an international reputation and the Adams Prize.

Academic Career

After his doctorate in 1952, Salam returned to the Government College University as a Professor of Mathematics which he remained there till 1954. During the same period, he was the Chairman of the Department of Mathematics, and professor as well, at the Punjab University. As he became the chairman, Salam sought to update the university curriculum, making course of Quantum mechanics as a part of undergraduate course. This was soon reverted back by the Vice-Chancellor, and Salam decided to teach an evening course in Quantum Mechanics outside the regular curriculum. While, Abdus Salam had the mixed popularity in the university, Abdus Salam began to supervised the education of students who were particularly influenced by Salam. As the result, Riazuddin remained the only student of Abdus Salam who has privileged to study under Abdus Salam at the Under and Post-graduate level in Lahore, and Post-doctoral in Cambridge University. In 1953, Salam was unable to established a research institute in Lahore, as he faced strong opposition from his peers. In 1954, Abdus Salam took fellowship and became one of the earliest fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. As a result of 1953 riots in Lahore, Salam went back to Cambridge and joined St John's College, Cambridge, and took a position as a professor of mathematics in 1954. In 1957, he was invited to take a chair at Imperial College of London, and he and Paul Matthews went on to set up the Theoretical Physics Department at Imperial College. While, he kept his strong association links with Pakistan, and visit his country time by time. As time passes, this department became one of the prestigious research department that included well known physicists such as Steven Weinberg, Tom Kibble, Gerald Guralnik, C. R. Hagen, Riazuddin, and John Ward. In 1957, Punjab University conferred Abdus Salam with Honorary doctorate for his contribution in Particle physics.

The same year, Abdus Salam, with the help from his mentor, launched a scholarship programme for his students in Pakistan. At Cambridge and Imperial College, he had formed a vibrant group of theoretical physics, with majority of them were his Pakistani students. In 1959, he became one of the youngest to be named Fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 33. Abdus Salam took a fellowship at the Princeton University in 1959, where he met with J. Robert Oppenheimer. Abdus Salam presented his brief and research work on neutrinos to Oppenheimer. Both Oppenheimer and Salam discussed the foundation of electrodynamics, problems and their solution, in which Salam was praised by Oppenhimer. His dedicated personal assistant was Jean Bouckley. In 1980, Salam became was a foreign fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences

Scientific Career

Abdus Salam, early in his career, made an important and significant contribution on Quantum electrodynamics, quantum field theory, quantum chromodynamics, and including its extension into particle and nuclear physics. In his early career in Pakistan, Salam was highly interested in mathematical series in mathematics, and their possible relations with physics. Salam had a prolific research career in Theoretical and High-energy physics, and either he pioneered or was associated with all the important developments in this field. Salam had work on theory of Neutrino —an elusive particle that was first postulated by Wolfgang Pauli in 1930s. Salam introduced the Chiral symmetry in the theory of neutrinos. The introduction of Chiral symmetry played crucial role in subsequent development of theory of electroweak interactions responsible for the radioactivity which star would not shine. Salam later passed his work to Riazuddin, who made pioneering contributions in the neutrinos. In 1963, Salam published his theoretical work on Vector meson. The paper introduced the interaction of Vector meson Photon (vector electrodynamics), and the Renormalization of vector meson's known mass after the interaction. In 1962, Abdus Salam began to work with John Clive Ward on symmetries and Electroweak unification. In 1964, Salam and Ward worked on a Gauge theory for the Weak and Electromagnetic interaction, subsequently obtaining SU(2) × U(1) model. Even though, the work in this was continued in 1959, Salam had deeply convinced that all the elementary particle interactions are actually the Gauge interactions. In 1968, together with Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow, Salam formulated the mathematical concept of their work. While in Imperial College, Salam, along with Glashow and Jeffrey Goldstone, mathematically proved the Goldstone's theorem, that a massless spin-zero object must appear in a theory as a result of spontaneous breaking of a continuous global symmetry. In 1968, together with Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow, formulated the mathematical concept of their work.

In 1966, Salam carried out the pioneering work on Magnetic photon— a Hypothetical particle. Salam showed the possible electromagnetic interaction between the Magnetic monopole and the C-violation, thus he formulated the Magnetic photon.

Following the publication of PRL Symmetry Breaking papers in 1964, Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam were the first to apply the Higgs mechanism to the electroweak symmetry breaking. Abdus Salam provided a mathematical postulations while observing the interaction between the Higgs boson and the electroweak symmetry theory.

In 1972, Abdus Salam began to work with Indian-American theoretical physicist Jogesh Pati. Pati was invited by Salam at the ICTP seminar in which Pati suggests that there should be some deep reason why the protons and electrons are so different yet to contrive or form to carry equal but opposite amount of electricity. Protons carry quarks, but the electroweak theory only worried about the electrons and neutrinos, and nothing postulated about quarks. Bringing all these nature's ingredients together in one new symmetry, it might reveal a reason for the contrariety of these particles and the forces they feel. This led to a development of Pati-Salam model in particle physics. In 1973, Salam and Jogesh Pati were the first to notice that since Quarks and Leptons have very similar SU(2) × U(1) representation content, they all may have similar entities. They simply provided the simplest realization of the quark-lepton universality by postulating that "Lepton number is the fourth colour. Physicist believed that there are four fundamental forces of nature; gravitational force, strong and weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force. Salam had work on the unification of these forces from 1959 with Glashow and Weinberg at the Imperial College. Salam was highly convinced that weak nuclear forces are not really different from electromagnetic forces, and two could inter-convert. Abdus Salam provided a theory that shows the unification of two fundamental forces of nature, strong and weak nuclear forces and the electromagnetic forces, one into another. From 1959, Salam had search for such unity that takes place in them. In 1966, Glashow had formulated the same work, and the theory was combined in 1966. In 1967, Abdus Salam proved the theory mathematically, and finally published the papers. For this achievement, Abdus Salam, Glashow, and Weinberg were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979.

The Nobel Prize Foundation paid a tribute to scientists and issued a statement by saying:

For their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current.

Government work

The road named after Abdus Salam in CERN, Geneva

Salam immediately returned to Pakistan in 1960 to take charge of a government post that was given to him by President Field Marshal Ayub Khan. From her Independence, Pakistan has never had a coherent Science policy, and the total expenditure on research and development represent ~1.0% of Pakistan's nature product.. Even the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) headquarter was located in a small room, and less than 10 scientists were working on a fundamental concepts of physics. Salam replaced Salimuzzaman Siddiqui as Science Advisor, became first Member (technical) of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Salam expanded the web of physics research and development in Pakistan by sending more than 500 scientists abroad. On September of 1961, Salam approach President Ayub Khan to set up the country's first and national space agency. On 16 September 1961, through an executive order, Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, was established, which Abdus Salam served its first and founding director. During 1960, a little work on development on science was done, and scientific activities in Pakistan were almost diminished. Abdus Salam had called Ishfaq Ahmad, a nuclear physicist, who left the country for Switzerland where he joined CERN, to Pakistan. With the support of Abdus Salam, PAEC established PAEC Lahore Center-6, with Ishfaq Ahmad as its first director. In 1967, Salam became a central and administrative figure to lead the research in both Theoretical and Particle physics. With the establishment of Institute of Physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, the research in theoretical and particle physics was engaged. Under Salam's direction, physicists tackled the greatest outstanding problems in physics and mathematics. Another physicist, Raziuddin Siddiqui, established numerous physics research group and supervised the research activities in the academic institutions of Pakistan. Under the direction of Abdus Salam, the research in physics reached at its maximum point that prompted the worldwide recognition of Pakistani physicists.

From 1950s, Salam had tirelessly tried for establishing a high-powered research institutes in Pakistan, though he was unable to do it. Salam moved PAEC Headquarters in a bigger building, and established research laboratories all over the country. On the advice of Abdus Salam, Ishrat Hussain Usmani sat up plutonium and uranium exploration committees throughout the country. In October of 1961, Salam traveled to United States and signed an space-cooperation agreement with United States. And, on November 1961, NASA had built a space facility — Flight Test Range — in Balochistan in which Salam served its first technical director.

Abdus Salam played an influential and significant role in Pakistan's development in nuclear energy as well as weapons programme in 1972, In 1964, Salam was made head of Pakistan's IAEA delegation and represented Pakistan for a decade. The same year, Salam joined Munir Ahmad Khan — Salam's life-long friend and former student at Government College University. Munir Ahmad Khan was the first person that Abdus Salam had consulted about the establishment of International Centre for Theoretical Physics, a research physics institution, in Trieste, Italy. With an agreement signed with IAEA, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics was sat up of which Salam was its first director. At IAEA, Salam had tirelessly advocated of the importance of nuclear power plants in his country. It was his efforts, in 1965, Canada and Pakistan signed a nuclear energy cooperation deal. Salam had obtained the permission from Ayub Khan — against the wishes of Ayub Khan's own government — to sat up the nuclear power plant near at the Karachi. In 1965, with the efforts led by Salam, United States and Pakistan signed an agreement in which United States provided a small research reactor. Abdus Salam had a long dream to established a research institute in Pakistan, for which he had advocated on many different occasions. In 1965, Abdus Salam and Edward Durrell Stone signed a contract to led the establishment of research institute at Nilore, Islamabad.

Space Programme

Abdus Salam was the founder of Pakistan's space programme as he was responsible for the establishment of the space research activities in Pakistan. On September of 1961, Abdus Salam approach to President Field Marshal Ayub Khan to led the foundation of country's first executive agency to coordinate space reserach.. On 16 September of 1961, through an executive order, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) was established of which Salam was made its first and founder director of the agency.Salam immediately traveled to United States, where he successfully signed an space cooperation agreement with United States Government. In November of 1961, NASA built Flight Test Center (FTC) in Balochistan Province. During this time, Salam visited Air Force Academy where he met with Air Commodore (Brigadier-General) Wladyslaw Turowicz — a Polish military scientist and an aerospace engineer. Turowicz was made the first technical director of the space center, and a programme of rocket testing of insued. In 1964, while in the United States, Abdus Salam visited at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and met with nuclear engineers Salim Mehmud and Tariq Mustafa. Abdus Salam signed an another agreement with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in which NASA launched a programme to provide training to the Pakistan's scientists and engineers. Both nuclear engineers returned to Pakistan in few months and were inducted in Suparco.

Involvement in Nuclear Weapons Programme

See also: Project-706 § Organization

Abdus Salam knew the importance of nuclear technology in Pakistan. And, from the starting of the programme, Salam was a central figure in Pakistan's nuclear weapons program. In 1965, Abdus Salam led the establishing the prominent nuclear research institute—Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology. In 1965, the plutonium reactor Pakistan Atomic Research Reactor went critical under the leadership of Dr. Salam. In November of 1971, Salam met with Bhutto in his residence, and according to Bhutto's advice, Salam went to United States to evade the 1971 Indo-Pak winter war. In 1971, Abdus Salam had traveled to United States and returned, with loaded history books on Manhattan Project, to Pakistan. In 1972, Government of Pakistan learned about the India's nuclear weapon program, and Bhutto orchestrated to developed the programme. Former Prime minister, Mr. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, formed a group of nuclear scientists and engineers, initially headed by Abdus Salam. In 1972, Salam, as Science advisor to the President, had arranged a secret meeting of nuclear scientists to meet Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Multan, which came to known as the "Multan Meeting". Few months after the meeting, Salam, along with Munir Ahmad Khan and Riazuddin, met with Bhutto in his residence where the scientists have had briefed Bhutto about the nuclear weapons program. After the meeting, Salam and Munir Ahmad Khan were made the head of the nuclear weapons programme. Salam also had done the groundbreaking work of the "Theoretical Physics Group", which was initially headed by Salam until 1974.

In December 1972, two theoretical physicists working at the ICTP were asked by Salam to report to noted Pakistani nuclear scientist, Munir Ahmad Khan (late), then-PAEC chairman. This marked the beginning of the “Theoretical Physics Group" or TPG. The TPG, in PAEC, was assigned to develop the theoretical designs of Pakistan's nuclear weapon devices. The TPG team under the leadership of Riazuddin, who was also Salam's student, completed work on the theoretical design of the nuclear weapon device by 1977. Abdus Salam had led the groundbreaking work in the development of the programme, with Munir Ahmad Khan. In 1974, Munir Ahmad Khan had called for a meeting to initiate the work on atomic device, which was attended by Abdus Salam. The word "bomb" was never used, instead scientists preferred to use the scientific research rationale. The Theoretical Physics Group began its research and directly reported to Abdus Salam. On the advise of Abdus Salam, PAEC scientists formed many groups that took charge in calculations and development. On March 1974, Abdus Salam also established the Wah Group Scientist and the Directorate for Technical Development (DTD). These groups were charged with the material and triggering mechanism development of the weapon. Abdus Salam remained associated with the nuclear weapons programme until 1974, when he left the country in protest. Although, he had left the country, Abdus Salam did not hesitate to advise the the PAEC and TPG on important scientific matters, and kept his close association with TPG and PAEC.

Advocacy for Science

In 1964, Salam founded International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, in the North-East of Italy. He was the Director of ICTP from 1964 to December 1993. In 1974, he founded International Nathiagali Summer College (INSC) to promote science in his country. The INSC is an annual meeting of scientists from all over the world to come to Pakistan, and held discussions on different aspect in physics and science. Even today, the INSC is holding the annual meeting, and Salam's pupil student Riazuddin is its director since its inception.

In 1997, the scientists at ICPT commemorated Salam and renamed to ICTP as The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics. Salam had advocated for development of Science in third world countries, and attended various seminars in different countries. Throughout the years, Salam served on a number of United Nations committees concerning science and technology in developing countries.. Salam also founded the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and was a leading figure in the creation of a number of international centres dedicated to the advancement of science and technology.

During his visit at the Institute of Physics of Quaid-i-Azam University in 1979, Salam had explained after receiving his award: Physicists believed there are four fundamental forces of nature; the gravitational force, the weak and strong nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force. Salam was a firm believer that "scientific thought is the common heritage of mankind," and that developing nations needed to help themselves and invest into their own scientists to boost development and reduce the gap between the Global South and the Global North, thus contributing to a more peaceful world.

Although Salam had departure from Pakistan, Salam did not terminate his connection to Pakistan. Abdus Salam continued inviting Pakistan's scientists to ICTP, and maintained a research programme for the Pakistani scientists. Many prominent scientists, which includes, Ghulam Murtaza, Riazuddin, Kamaluddin Ahmed, Faheem Hussain, Raziuddin Siddiqui, Munir Ahmad Khan, Ishfaq Ahmad, and I. H. Usmani, considered him as their mentor and a teacher.

Personal Life

Religion

Abdus Salam was a devout Muslim, and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who saw his religion as integral to his scientific work. He once wrote: "The Holy Quran enjoins us to reflect on the verities of Allah's created laws of nature; however, that our generation has been privileged to glimpse a part of His design is a bounty and a grace for which I render thanks with a humble heart."

During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics, Salam quoted the following verses from the Quran:

Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure. Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary.

He then said:

This, in effect, is the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.

In 1974, when the Parliament of Pakistan declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims, he left Pakistan for London in protest.

Death

The defaced grave of Abdus Salam in Rabwah

Salam died on 21st November 1996 at the age of 70 in Oxford, England after a long illness. His body was brought to Pakistan and kept in Darul Ziafat, where some 13,000 men and women visited to pay their last respects. Some 30,000 people attended his funeral prayers.

Salam was buried in the graveyard Bahishti Maqbara in Rabwah next to his parents' graves. The epitaph on his tomb initially read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate" but, because of Salam's adherence to the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, the word "Muslim" was later erased on the orders of a local magistrate, leaving the nonsensical "First Nobel Laureate".

Salam was responsible for laying the groundwork for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, initiating research on problems of waterlogging and salinity, and agricultural research. He played a crucial role in PAEC and SUPARCO, the National Space Agency of Pakistan. He helped Pakistan's scientists and engineers to be trained in nuclear applications and nuclear science.

Legacy

File:Munir Ahmad Khan with Abdus Salam.jpg

Abdus Salam with his pupil student Riazuddin (right) and PAEC Chair Munir Ahmad Khan (Left).

Abdus Salam's work in Pakistan has been far reaching and influential. He has made extraordinary contributions to Pakistan's development in science, including nuclear and space programme. Therefore, in 1998, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp to honour the services of Abdus Salam as part of its "Scientists of Pakistan" series.

Abdus Salam has been commemorated by Pakistan's noted and prominent scientists, who were also his students. Many scientists have recalled their college experiences. Ghulam Murtaza, a professor of plasma physics at the Government College University, Lahore has said:

" When Dr. Salam was to deliver a lecture, the hall would be packed and although the subject was Particle Physics, his manner and eloquence was such as if he was talking about literature. When he finished his lectures, listeners would often burst into spontaneous applause and give him a standing ovation. People from all parts of the world would come to Imperial College and seek Dr. Salam's help. He would give a patient hearing to everyone including those who were talking nonsense. He treated everyone with respect and compassion and never belittled or offended anyone. Dr. Salam's strength was that he could "sift jewels from the sand" .

Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, former PAEC chairman and a life long friend of Salam who previously served as a former professor of nuclear physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University, recalls:

"Dr. Abdus Salam was responsible for sending about 500 physicists, mathematicians and scientists from Pakistan, for PhD’s to the best institutions in UK and USA" .

In August 1996, former chairmen of PAEC and lifelong friends, Munir Ahmad Khan and dr. Ishfaq Ahmad met with Salam in Oxford, United Kingdom. Munir Ahmad Khan (late), former PAEC chairman who headed the nuclear weapons and power program, said:

"My last meeting with Abdus Salam was only three months ago. His disease had taken its toll and he was unable to talk. Yet he understood what was said. I told him about the celebration held in Pakistan on his seventieth birthday. He kept staring at me. He had risen above praise. As I rose to leave he pressed my hand to express his feelings as if he wanted to thank everyone who had said kind words about him. Dr. Abdus Salam had deep love for Pakistan in spite of the fact that he was treated unfairly and indifferently by his own country. It became more and more difficult for him to come to Pakistan and this hurt him deeply. Now he has returned home finally, to rest in peace for ever in the soil that he loved so much. May be in the years to come we will rise above our prejudice and own him and give him, after his death, what we could not when he was alive. We Pakistanis may choose to ignore Dr. Salam, but the world at large will always remember him."

Documentary film (Docufilm)

A documentary film on the life and science of Abdus Salam is in the works and will be directed by Sabiha Sumar[1] subject to collection of donations valued to $500,000.

A second movie is planned by pilgrimfilms.it to be released in 2011.

Contributions

Salam's primary focus was research on the physics of elementary particles. His particular contributions included:

• two-component neutrino theory and the prediction of the inevitable parity violation in weak interaction;
• gauge unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions, the unified force is called the "Electroweak" force, a name given to it by Salam, and which forms the basis of the Standard Model in particle physics;
• predicted existence of weak neutral currents and W particles and Z particles before their experimental discovery;
• symmetry properties of elementary particles; unitary symmetry;
• renormalization of meson theories;
• gravity theory and its role in particle physics; two tensor theory of gravity and strong interaction physics;
• unification of electroweak with strong nuclear forces, grand unification theory;
• related prediction of proton-decay;
• Pati-Salam model, a grand unification theory;
• Supersymmetry theory, in particular formulation of Superspace and formalism of superfields in 1974;
• the theory of supermanifolds, as a geometrical framework for understanding supersymmetry, in 1974;
• Supergeometry, the geometric basis for supersymmetry, in 1974;
• application of the Higgs mechanism to the electroweak symmetry breaking;
• prediction of the magnetic photon in 1966;

Awards

• Nobel Prize in Physics (Stockholm, Sweden)(1979)
• Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for "the most outstanding contribution to Physics during 1957-1958"
• Adams Prize (Cambridge University) (1958)
• Sitara-e-Pakistan for contribution to science in Pakistan (1959).
• First recipient of Maxwell Medal and Award (Physical Society, London) (1961)
• Hughes Medal (Royal Society, London) (1964)
• Atoms for Peace Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
• J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Medal and Prize (University of Miami) (1971)
• Guthrie Medal and Prize (1976)
• Matteuci Medal (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome) (1978)
• John Torrence Tate Medal (American Institute of Physics) (1978)
• Royal Medal (Royal Society, London) (1978)
• Nishan-e-Imtiaz for outstanding performance in Scientific projects in Pakistan (1979)
• Einstein Medal (UNESCO, Paris) (1979)
• Shri R.D. Birla Award (India Physics Association) (1979)
• Josef Stefan Medal (Josef Stefan Institute, Ljublijana) (1980)
• Gold Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Physics (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague) (1981)
• Lomonosov Gold Medal (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1983)
• Copley Medal (Royal Society, London) (1990)

Institutes named after Abdus Salam

• Abdus Salam National Center for Mathematics (ASNCM), Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan. [2]
• Abdus Salam Chair in Physics (ASCP), Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan. [3]
• Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics , Trieste, Italy.
• Abdus Salam School for Mathematical Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan [4]
• The Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute (EBASI)

See also

• Pati-Salam model
• Unified field theory
• Electroweak interaction
• Preon
• W and Z bosons

• Standard Model
• Magnetic photon
• Quantum electrodynamics
• International Centre for Theoretical Physics

Bibliography

• Rahman, Shahid (1998). "§Development of Weapons". In Rahman, Shahid (ed.). Long Road to Chagai. Islamabad, Pakistan: Printwise publication. p. 157. ISBN 9698500006. {{cite book}}: |editor2-first= missing |editor2-last= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fraser, Gordon (2008). Cosmic anger: Abdus Salam - the first Muslim Nobel scientist. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-19-920846-3. {{cite book}}: |editor2-first= missing |editor2-last= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Kamran, Mujahid. "Abdus Salam at Cambridge". {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Riazuddin, Professor (2005). "Contributions of Professor Abdus Salam as member of PAEC" (PDF). The Nucleus. 42 (1–2). Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology: 31–34. ISSN 0029-5698. Retrieved 2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• uddin, Riaz (1994). Selected Papers of Abdus Salam. World Scientific. p. 660. ISBN 9810216629. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• Murthi, R.K. (1999). Children Encyclopedia of Nobel Laureates:Abdus Salam. New Delhi: Pitambar Publication Inc. pp. 41–46. ISBN 81-209-0730-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Nayyar, Abdul Hameed. "Prof Abdus Salam – a 'neglected' physicist". {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ghani, Abdul (1982). "Science Advisor to the President (1960-1974)". Abdus Salam: a Nobel laureate from a Muslim country : a biographical sketch. p. 234. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Duff, Michael (2007). Salam + 50: proceedings of the conference. London, United Kingdom: Imperial College Press. p. 84. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fruend, Peter George Oliver (1998). "§Oppenheimer, Hero or Antihero". A passion for Discovery. Singapore: World Scientific. p. 206. ISBN 13-978-981-270646-1. {{cite book}}: |editor2-first= missing |editor2-last= (help); Check |isbn= value: length (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Fayyazuddin, Professor (2005). "Salam: As I know him" (PDF). NCP 5th Lectures. Islamabad, Pakistan: National Center for Physics: 19. ISSN 0029-5698. Retrieved 2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

• 1979 Nobel Prize Distribution Ceremony - Video
• Documentary Film on the Science and Life of Dr. Abdus Salam
• Pakistan’s contribution to the LHC (Large Hadron Collider)
• An Interview - Part 1 of 4
• An Interview - Part 2 of 4
• An interview - Part 3 of 4
• An Interview - Part 4 of 4
• A short clip of Professor Dr. Abdus Salam delivering a scientific lecture
• The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
• Abdus Salam: Nobel Laureate Par Excellence [contains photos and hand-written notes from family archives]
• Abdus Salam bio on Nobel site
• The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 [5]
• The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics [6]
• Personalia at the ICTP Library [7]
• TWAS, formerly Third World Academy of Sciences [8]
• Abdus Salam CV [9] / [10]
• COMSATS Secretariat
• COMSATS
• National Centre For Physics (NCP)
• Biography of Abdus Salam by Imperial College colleague [11]
• An Interesting And Detailed Article On the Life of Dr. Abdus Salam In Urdu
• PBS documentary on strings, contains clip of award ceremony with Abdus Salam
• Salam +50 Conference at Imperial College
• CNBC Pakistan televised Interview with Dr. Salim Mehmud - Chairman SUPARCO-Available in Urdu Language
• Contributions of Professor Abdus Salam as member of PAEC
• A full biography: 'Cosmic Anger, Abdus Salam- the First Muslim Nobel Scientist' [ISBN 978-0-19-920846-3]
• Abdus Salam Movie - The Dream of Symmetry