John George Valatin

John George Valatin (, 1918 –April 19, 1978) was a British–Hungarian theoretical physicist and professor at Queen Mary University of London. He is known for his work in quantum field theory, particle physics and condensed matter physics. He developed the Bogoliubov–Valatin transformation in many-body quantum mechanics.

Early life and education John George Valatin was born in Budapest, Hungary. He worked in the Institute of Experimental Physics.

Career abroad In 1947, he went to work with Louis de Broglie at the Institut Henri Poincaré in France. He was awarded a Doctor of Science diploma by the University of Paris for his dissertation on the theory of the positron. Valatin worked on generalizations of the Hartree–Fock method for superconductors. With Ben Roy Mottelson and David Thouless, he generalized the Hartree–Fock method for pairing forces in nuclear physics. With Carlo Di Castro, a PhD student at the time, Valating worked on phase transitions in superconducting thin films.

In 1965, he was offered a chair at Queen Mary College, London, where he established a theoretical physics group to work both in particle and condensed matter physics.

Personal life Valatin had two sons with his wife. He was also a devoted Christian.

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