Brian Pippard
Encyclopedia
Sir Alfred Brian Pippard, ScD
, FRS (7 September 1920, Earl's Court, London
– 21 September 2008, Cambridge
), was a British
physicist. He was Cavendish Professor of Physics
from 1971 until 1984 and an Honorary Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge
, of which he was the first President. He was educated at Clifton College
.
Pippard demonstrated the reality (as opposed to a mere abstract concept) of Fermi surface
in metals by establishing the shape of the Fermi surface in copper
through measuring the reflection and absorption of microwave electromagnetic radiation (see the anomalous skin effect). He also introduced the notion of coherence length
in superconductors in his proposal for the non-local generalisation of the London
equation concerning electrodynamics in superfluids and superconductors. The non-local kernel proposed by Pippard (inferred on the basis of Chambers' non-local generalisation of the Ohm
law) can be deduced within the framework of the BCS
(Bardeen
, Cooper
and Schrieffer
) theory of superconductivity (a comprehensive description of the details of the London-Pippard theory can be found in the book by Fetter and Walecka).
Pippard was the author of Elements of Classical Thermodynamics for Advanced Students of Physics,
Dynamics of Conduction Electrons, and The Physics of Vibration. He is also a co-author of the three-volumes encyclopaedia Twentieth Century Physics. As the Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cavendish Laboratory
, University of Cambridge, he instituted Cavendish Problems in Classical Physics as a part of the examination of the graduating students of physics in Cambridge.
Pippard was the doctoral supervisor of Brian David Josephson
(awarded PhD
in Physics in 1964) who in 1973 received the Nobel Prize in Physics
(together with Leo Esaki
and Ivar Giaever
) for his discovery of what is known as the Josephson effect
.
Scd
-In medicine:* Schnyder corneal dystrophy* Semen collection device* Sequential compression device an intermittent pneumatic compression system intended to reduce blood clot formation* Sickle-cell disease...
, FRS (7 September 1920, Earl's Court, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
– 21 September 2008, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
), was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
physicist. He was Cavendish Professor of Physics
Cavendish Professor of Physics
The Cavendish Professorship is one of the senior Professorships in Physics at Cambridge University. It was founded by grace of 9 February 1871 alongside the famous Cavendish Laboratory which was completed three years later...
from 1971 until 1984 and an Honorary Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, of which he was the first President. He was educated at Clifton College
Clifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
.
Pippard demonstrated the reality (as opposed to a mere abstract concept) of Fermi surface
Fermi surface
In condensed matter physics, the Fermi surface is an abstract boundary useful for predicting the thermal, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of metals, semimetals, and doped semiconductors. The shape of the Fermi surface is derived from the periodicity and symmetry of the crystalline...
in metals by establishing the shape of the Fermi surface in copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
through measuring the reflection and absorption of microwave electromagnetic radiation (see the anomalous skin effect). He also introduced the notion of coherence length
Coherence length
In physics, coherence length is the propagation distance from a coherent source to a point where an electromagnetic wave maintains a specified degree of coherence. The significance is that interference will be strong within a coherence length of the source, but not beyond it...
in superconductors in his proposal for the non-local generalisation of the London
Fritz London
Fritz Wolfgang London was a German theoretical physicist. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces are today considered classic and are discussed in standard textbooks of physical chemistry.With his brother Heinz, he made a significant...
equation concerning electrodynamics in superfluids and superconductors. The non-local kernel proposed by Pippard (inferred on the basis of Chambers' non-local generalisation of the Ohm
Ohm
The ohm is the SI unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm.- Definition :The ohm is defined as a resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant potential difference of 1 volt, applied to these points, produces in the conductor a current of 1 ampere,...
law) can be deduced within the framework of the BCS
BCS theory
BCS theory — proposed by Bardeen, Cooper, and Schrieffer in 1957 — is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since its discovery in 1911. The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a "condensation" of pairs of electrons into a boson-like state...
(Bardeen
John Bardeen
John Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a...
, Cooper
Leon Cooper
Leon N Cooper is an American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, who with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer, developed the BCS theory of superconductivity...
and Schrieffer
John Robert Schrieffer
John Robert Schrieffer is an American physicist and, with John Bardeen and Leon N Cooper, recipient of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physics for developing the BCS theory, the first successful microscopic theory of superconductivity.-Biography:...
) theory of superconductivity (a comprehensive description of the details of the London-Pippard theory can be found in the book by Fetter and Walecka).
Pippard was the author of Elements of Classical Thermodynamics for Advanced Students of Physics,
Dynamics of Conduction Electrons, and The Physics of Vibration. He is also a co-author of the three-volumes encyclopaedia Twentieth Century Physics. As the Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cavendish Laboratory
Cavendish Laboratory
The Cavendish Laboratory is the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory....
, University of Cambridge, he instituted Cavendish Problems in Classical Physics as a part of the examination of the graduating students of physics in Cambridge.
Pippard was the doctoral supervisor of Brian David Josephson
Brian David Josephson
Brian David Josephson, FRS is a Welsh physicist. He became a Nobel Prize laureate in 1973 for the prediction of the eponymous Josephson effect....
(awarded PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Physics in 1964) who in 1973 received the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
(together with Leo Esaki
Leo Esaki
Reona Esaki also known as Leo Esaki is a Japanese physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Ivar Giaever and Brian David Josephson for his discovery of the phenomenon of electron tunneling. He is known for his invention of the Esaki diode, which exploited that phenomenon...
and Ivar Giaever
Ivar Giaever
Ivar Giaever is a physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Brian Josephson "for their discoveries regarding tunnelling phenomena in solids". Giaever's share of the prize was specifically for his "experimental discoveries regarding tunnelling phenomena in ......
) for his discovery of what is known as the Josephson effect
Josephson effect
The Josephson effect is the phenomenon of supercurrent across two superconductors coupled by a weak link...
.
Obituaries
- Anthony Tucker, Sir Brian Pippard, The Guardian, Wednesday, September 25, 2008, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/sep/24/physics.peopleinscience.
- John Waldram, Professor Sir Brian Pippard (1920 - 2008), News and Events, University Offices, University of Cambridge, 24 September 2008, http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2008092302.
- Professor Sir Brian Pippard (1920-2008), Cambridge Network, 25 September 2008, http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/article/default.aspx?objid=51727 (Reproduced from University of Cambridge Office of Communications).
- John Waldram, Brian Pippard (1920-2008): Low-temperature physicist who excelled in subtle intuitive concepts, Nature 455, 1191 (30 October 2008), http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v455/n7217/full/4551191a.html.
- Professor Sir Brian Pippard, Telegraph, September 23, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3069588/Professor-Sir-Brian-Pippard.html.
- Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Cambridge physicist, The Times, September 25, 2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4820036.ece#cid=OTC%E2%80%91RSS&attr=1972202.
- Richard EdenRichard EdenRichard Eden was an alchemist and translator. His translations of the geographic works of other writers helped foster a spirit of overseas exploration in Tudor England.-Early life:...
, Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Physicist who proved the existence of the Fermi surface and was the first President of Clare Hall, Cambridge, The Independent, Tuesday, 7 October 2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-sir-brian-pippard-physicist-who-proved-the-existence-of-the-fermi-surface-and-was-the-first-president-of-clare-hall-cambridge-953709.html. - Hamish Johnston, Sir Brian Pippard: 1920-2008, PhysicsWorld, September 24, 2008, http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/35962.
External links
- The Cavendish Professorship of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Department of Physics.
- The Brian Pippard Building, Cambridge
- Professor George ZarneckiGeorge ZarneckiGeorge Jerzy Zarnecki, CBE, FBA, FSA was a Polish-English Professor of Art history. He was a scholar of Medieval art and English Romanesque sculpture, an area of study where he did pioneering research....
, Lives remembered: Professor George Zarnecki and Professor Sir Brian Pippard, The Times, September 27, 2008, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4833556.ece#cid. - Professor Ernst Sondheimer, Professor Sir Brian Pippard, The Independent, Friday, 10 October 2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-sir-brian-pippard-956567.html.
- Professor Sir Brian Pippard, President of CUMS, 7 September 1920 - 21 September 2008, Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) News, 25 September 2008, http://www.cums.org.uk/news/index.php?nid=12.
- Brian Pippard dies aged 88, VarsityVarsity (Cambridge)Varsity is the oldest of Cambridge University's main student newspapers. It has been published continuously since 1947, and is one of only three fully independent student newspapers in the UK. It appears every Friday around Cambridge...
, 2008, http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/979/1/. - Professor Pippard papers HF/LEEWW: 2000.611 2000, The National Archives, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=2784-hfleeww&cid=-1&Gsm=2008-06-18#-1.
Contents: Typewritten manuscript by Professor Sir Brian Pippard entitled 'Reminiscences of Wartime Radar Research 1941-1945', together with three papers published in The Journal of The Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1946. - Brian Pippard interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 31st March 2008 (film)