Berni Alder
Encyclopedia
Berni Julian Alder is an American physicist specialized in statistical mechanics, and a pioneer of numerical simulation in physics.
to study under John Gamble Kirkwood
for his PhD in 1948 and worked for the investigation of phase transitions in hard-sphere gas with Stan Frankel
, where he got the idea to use the Monte Carlo method
. After he finished at Caltech in 1952, he went to Berkeley and worked part time at Berkeley to teach chemistry and part time as a consultant under suggestion of Edward Teller
in the nuclear weapons program for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
to help with the equations of state. In collaboration with Thomas Everett Wainwright, he developed techniques for molecular dynamics simulation
in the mid-1950s, including the liquid-solid phase transition for hard sphere and the velocity autocorrelations function decay in liquids.
Alder was a professor of Applied Science at the University of California at Davis, and is now Professor Emeritus.
In 2001, he was awarded the Boltzmann Medal
for inventing technique of molecular dynamics simulation.
He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 2008. In 2009, he was awarded the National Medal of Science
.
Alder was a Guggenheim Fellow
. He was the editor of the book series Methods in Computational Physics and the founder of the magazine Computing.
Career
Alder was born as a Swiss citizen in Germany. After the Nazis came to power, he moved to Switzerland, and to the United States in 1941 with his family in Switzerland, where he attended the University of California at Berkeley. He was interrupted by the World War II and went into the Navy. After he came back to Berkeley, he got a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1946 and a master's degree in chemical engineering in 1947. He went to the California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
to study under John Gamble Kirkwood
John Gamble Kirkwood
John "Jack" Gamble Kirkwood was a noted chemist and physicist, holding faculty positions at Cornell University, the University of Chicago, California Institute of Technology, and Yale University.-Early life and background:Kirkwood was born in Gotebo, Oklahoma, the oldest child of John Millard and...
for his PhD in 1948 and worked for the investigation of phase transitions in hard-sphere gas with Stan Frankel
Stan Frankel
Stanley Phillips "Stan" Frankel was an American computer scientist. He was born in Los Angeles, attended graduate school at the University of Rochester, received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and began his career as a post-doc student under J. Robert Oppenheimer...
, where he got the idea to use the Monte Carlo method
Monte Carlo method
Monte Carlo methods are a class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to compute their results. Monte Carlo methods are often used in computer simulations of physical and mathematical systems...
. After he finished at Caltech in 1952, he went to Berkeley and worked part time at Berkeley to teach chemistry and part time as a consultant under suggestion of Edward Teller
Edward Teller
Edward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
in the nuclear weapons program for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
to help with the equations of state. In collaboration with Thomas Everett Wainwright, he developed techniques for molecular dynamics simulation
Molecular dynamics
Molecular dynamics is a computer simulation of physical movements of atoms and molecules. The atoms and molecules are allowed to interact for a period of time, giving a view of the motion of the atoms...
in the mid-1950s, including the liquid-solid phase transition for hard sphere and the velocity autocorrelations function decay in liquids.
Alder was a professor of Applied Science at the University of California at Davis, and is now Professor Emeritus.
In 2001, he was awarded the Boltzmann Medal
Boltzmann Medal
The Boltzmann Medal is the most important prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann...
for inventing technique of molecular dynamics simulation.
He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 2008. In 2009, he was awarded the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
.
Alder was a Guggenheim Fellow
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
. He was the editor of the book series Methods in Computational Physics and the founder of the magazine Computing.