Abdus Salam (born 29.01.1926) — theoretical physicist. Born in Jhang (Pakistan). Graduated from the University of the Punjab (1946) and the University of Cambridge (1948). In 1951 —54 he was a professor at the University of the Punjab, in 1954 —56 a lecturer at the University of Cambridge. From 1957 he was a professor at Imperial College of Science and Technology of the University of London, and from 1964 director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste (Italy).
His work was in quantum electrodynamics, the theory of elementary particles and the theory of gravitation. He gave (1951) a complete analysis of renormalisation in quantum electrodynamics and proved (1952) the renormalisability of the theories of charged scalar and pseudovector meson fields interacting with the electromagnetic field. In 1956, independently of L. D. Landau, T. Lee and C. Yang, he showed that combined parity is conserved in weak interactions, and put forward the hypothesis of the two-component neutrino. In 1958 he developed (together with J. Ward) the idea of unifying the weak and electromagnetic interactions, and in 1968 he developed (independently of S. Weinberg) a unified theory of the weak and electromagnetic interactions based on the principle of gauge invariance (the Weinberg–Salam theory) (Nobel Prize, 1979). Independently of others he put forward the hypothesis of gluons (1973), and proposed (1973 — 74) a grand unification including the strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions.
A member of a number of academies of sciences, in particular the Royal Society (1959) and the USSR Academy of Sciences (1971). The Atoms for Peace Award (1968) and others.