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Martinus Veltman - Particle Physics and Gauge Theories

© Jackie DiGiovanni

Martinus Veltman was born June 27, 1931, in Waalwijk, Netherlands. He was the fourth of six children. His father ran a primary school. His early years coincided with the Great Depression. And, in 1940, the German army invaded and occupied the country. 

Veltman started high school in 1943, one year before the southern part of the Netherlands was liberated. He passed his exams in 1948, at age 17. He had an interest in electronics and learned from a local tradesman. His physics teacher from high school urged his parents to send him to the University of Utrecht. For the next three years, he took the 90 minute train ride to Utrecht and back home again. Then he moved to Utrecht and found a part time job typing lecture notes.

It took Veltman five years to pass the candidaats exam and graduate in 1953. Afterward, he found a part time job teaching physics in a high school. He obtained a copy of The Meaning of Relativity by Einstein. This began his real fascination with physics. He continued graduate studies in both experimental  and theoretical physics.

Veltman also worked with Leon Van Hove at Utrecht, who took him on as a PhD candidate. Veltman began researching particle physics, making trips to seminars throughout Europe, meeting people and making friends. In 1961, he followed Van Hove to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. He read a "help wanted" notice that led him to the neutrino experiment and he began his work on the mathematical models that would predict the existence of elementary particles. He completed his degree in 1963.

Veltman became good friends with the people he met and worked with. The community of physicists was close knit, and people would find old friends at new jobs. In 1963, Veltman went to Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) at Stanford University for a year and returned to CERN. He also spent one year at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island. In 1966, he became professor of theoretical physics at Utrecht. He began a program there to research particle physics. Veltman continued to attend seminars and to participate in research sabbaticals, meeting people and expanding his research.

In 1979, he agreed to a one-year sabbatical at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He agreed to stay and was named John D and Catherine T MacArthur Professor Emeritus of Physics. He stayed until his retirement. He was also associated with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside Chicago.

According to Veltman:

Theoretical physics is a good science to be educated in, it prepares for no job in particular but the scientific methods learned are of use in many