John M. Dawson
Encyclopedia
John M. Dawson was an American computational physicist
. He received the Aneesur Rahman
prize in computational physics. The Rahman prize is the highest honor given by the American Physical Society
for work in computational physics
. He is credited as the inventor of the field of Plasma acceleration
. He also was the recipient of the Maxwell Prize. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the California Scientist of the Year award, a Fulbright Fellowship, and two UCLA physics teaching awards.
Aneesur Rahman prize citation:
"In recognition of his leading role in opening the field of computer simulation of plasmas and for numerous major contributions made using plasma simulation as a complement to analytic theory and experiment. He has lead in opening the field of plasma-based accelerators and made major advances in understanding basic nonlinear plasma wave processes, anomalous absorption and transport, advanced plasma-based coherent light sources and space plasma phenomena."
Computational physics
Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical algorithms to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists...
. He received the Aneesur Rahman
Aneesur Rahman
Aneesur Rahman pioneered the application of computational methods to physical systems. His 1964 paperon liquid argon studied a system of 864 argon atoms on a CDC 3600 computer, utilizing a Lennard-Jones potential. His algorithms still form the basis for many codes written today...
prize in computational physics. The Rahman prize is the highest honor given by the American Physical Society
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
for work in computational physics
Computational physics
Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical algorithms to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists...
. He is credited as the inventor of the field of Plasma acceleration
Plasma acceleration
Plasma Wakefield acceleration is a technique for accelerating charged particles, such as electrons, positrons and ions, using an electric field associated with an electron plasma wave. The wave is created either using electron pulses or through the passage of a very brief laser pulses, a technique...
. He also was the recipient of the Maxwell Prize. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the California Scientist of the Year award, a Fulbright Fellowship, and two UCLA physics teaching awards.
Aneesur Rahman prize citation:
"In recognition of his leading role in opening the field of computer simulation of plasmas and for numerous major contributions made using plasma simulation as a complement to analytic theory and experiment. He has lead in opening the field of plasma-based accelerators and made major advances in understanding basic nonlinear plasma wave processes, anomalous absorption and transport, advanced plasma-based coherent light sources and space plasma phenomena."