Léon Van Hove (born 10.02.1924) is a Belgian theoretical physicist and a member of the Belgian Academy of Sciences. He was born in Brussels. He graduated from the University of Brussels (1946), where he worked in 1945-49 and 1950-52. In 1954 — 75 he was professor at the University of Utrecht (the Netherlands). Since 1960 he has worked at CERN (in 1976 — 80 as Director-General for Research).
His research concerned the quantum theory of many-particle systems, quantum field theory, thermodynamics, statistical physics, nuclear physics and high-energy physics. He generalised Boltzmann's H-theorem, obtaining for systems with a weak interaction an equation for the production of entropy. He derived the quantum-mechanical equation for transport processes caused by a small perturbation (1955). Independently of R. Kubo he was the first to begin (1955) research on the quantum theory of irreversible processes. In 1954 he constructed the theory of the scattering of neutrons by magnons and was the first in solid-state physics to consider two-particle correlation functions, or Green's functions. He obtained in its most complete form the expression for the differential cross-sections of pion-pion scattering at low energies. He proposed a model of elastic scattering at high energies.
The D. Heineman (1962) and M. Planck (1974) medals and others.