Ernst Stückelberg

This is a post where I collect some information about Ernst Stückelberg, a Swiss physicist known for his contributions to theoretical physics, particularly in the areas of quantum field theory and particle physics.

I begin with this quote from Feynman, which captures the essence of his life: a brilliant mind working in the shadows and did not gain the glory.

He [Stueckelberg] did the work and walks alone toward the sunset; and, here I [Feynman] am, covered in all the glory, which rightfully should be his !

• Richard Feynman

His work on exchange of vector bosons is described as

The contribution of Stueckelberg … constitutes the first complete and easily generalizable instance of a manifest relativistically invariant perturbative calculus. It is of interest in many respects, both technical and epistemological. The “modernity” of this contribution is striking and characteristic of Stueckelberg’s original turn of mind.

• Lacki, Ruegg and Telegdi

He suffered mental health problems and was given the treatment which was common at that time, namely administered electric shocks. Although the problems continued to recur, Stueckelberg was able to carry out his duties.

When he became older, Stueckelberg was increasingly mentally disordered. He had a dog which attended his lectures, and when Stueckelberg ran into difficulties performing his calculations on the blackboard, he began to discuss the subject with his dog. He was treated later with electroshocks, which was a very popular method in psychiatry at that time.