George Brown Arfken (November 20, 1922 – October 8, 2020) was an American theoretical physicist and the author of several mathematical physics texts.

Enlisting in the U.S. Navy, he served as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the Amphibious Forces in the Western Pacific.

Arfken married Carolyn Dines, a graduate of Westminster College of Pennsylvania, in 1949, and they raised three children together.

In retirement Arfken played a major role in developing the postal history of Canada for the 60-year period 1851–1911, following the pioneering work of Allan Steinhart.

George was inducted into the Order of the Beaver, the Fellowship of BNAPS, in 1996, and named a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada in 2001.