Harry Suhl

• Comment: The article is certainly entertaining and the subject important, but we need rigorous proof and neutral third-person point of view - see WP:BLP.   — Jeff G. ツ (talk) 12:52, 17 October 2012 (UTC)

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Harry Suhl - Professor of Physics, University of California San Diego

Dr. Harry Suhl
Research Professor
Personal details
Born	(1922-10-08) October 8, 1922 Leipzig, Germany
Alma mater	University of Wales University of Oxford (Ph.D)
Profession	Research Physicist Professor Author
Awards	Member - National Academy of Science

Early Life and Career

Main article: Early Life and Career of Harry Suhl

Harry Suhl was born in Leipzig, Germany, on October 18, 1922. He received a B.Sc. degree from the University of Wales in 1943, and a PhD degree in theoretical physics from Oriel College, University of Oxford, in 1948. In 1948, Suhl joined the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories at Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he remained until 1960. He was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego, in 1960, and became Professor of Physics, Emeritus, in 1991.

Research

With William Shockley in 1948, Suhl contributed to fundamental aspects of charge carried dynamics in semiconductors. In 1953, he and Larry R. Walker developed a detailed analysis of wave propagation in waveguides loaded with gyromagnetic and gyroelectric media, pertaining to certain microwave devices. Suhl gave the definitive explanation of nonlinear effects in ferromagnetic resonance (the Suhl instability) in '55/,56, a subject that has recently proliferated. The principles involved led Suhl to patent a ferromagnetic parametric amplifier in 1956. This work stimulated wide utilization of parametric amplification, in general. In 1957, Suhl, and, independently, T. Nakamura, uncovered a major source of broadening of nuclear magnetic resonance lines in magnetically ordered media (the Suhl-Nakamura interaction).

Between 1957 and 1965, Suhl contributed to certain aspects of superconductivity theory (e.g., the so-called two-band model). In 1965, the and, independently, A.A. Abrikosov, resolved apparent divergences in the calculated properties of dilute magnetic alloys, attributing them to a particular resonance (the Abrikosov- Suhl resonance). In the 1970's and 80's he worked in surface physics and catalysis and studied reaction kinetics, in circumstances in which the traditional Kramers-Eyring approach fails. He continues to lead an active research group, including PhD students, at UCSD.

Awards, Recognition and Published Works

Suhl is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in '68/,69, a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Oxford in 1969, and a National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship in '70/,71. He received an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award in 1991. Suhl has served on the board of editors for the Physical Review ('55-'76) and Solid State Communications ('61-'90), is co-editor of Magnetism, a Treatise on Modern Theory and Materials (with G.T. Rado, Academic Press, New York, S volumes, '63-'72), Superconductivity in d- and f-Band Metals (with M.B. Maple, Academic Press, New York, 1980) and Many Body Phenomena at Surfaces (with D.C. Langreth, Academic Press, New York, 1984). He served as Chairman of the Physics Department of UCSD (1965-1968; 1972-1975) and as Director of the Institute for Pure and Applied Physical Sciences (1980-1991).

One of Harry Suhl's most endearing qualities is his sense of humor. At Bell Laboratories and La Jolla, he is famous for his dry wit and, especially, his 'one liners'. Here are just a few examples. In the late 70's, Harry and one of the UCSD Physics professors shared a secretary by the name of Julie. We heard about something called "Secretary's Day" and decided to invite Julie for lunch at a local restaurant, the Marine Room, which is located just south of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and has a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. On the day of the lunch, the three of us get into the front seat of Harry's Cadillac Eldorado (Harry has a penchant for Cadillacs - we don't remember him having any other kind of car). As we were driving along, Julie, who was sitting in between us, looked over and said "Dr. Maple, how far are you jogging these days?" This yielded the answer "Oh, about 12 miles a week" (a distance appropriately inflated to impress). She then turned to Harry and inquired "Well, Dr. Suhl, what do you do for exercise?" Harry replied "Oh, I really don't subscribe to strenuous exercise; however, I do get up every morning and wind my watch by an open window."

Although he seldom followed his own advice, Harry was once heard to declare "Everything should be taken in moderation, including moderation'" In the 60's when Harry and many of the new faculty at UCSD were designing and building their houses, he told John Goodkind: "...Everyone should build a house in his own bad taste." When a young Assistant Professor expressed some concern about his prospects for attaining tenure at UCSD and asked what he should do, Harry responded "Speak only when spoken to, and then give only your name, rank and serial number!" Sometime in the 70's, a number of us were having lunch at the Coffee Hut, located in a grove of Eucalyptus trees on the southwest part of the UCSD campus, and complaining about our income taxes. Harry exclaimed that he had just discovered a new theorem: "The area over all of the tax 'loop holes' is constant." On another occasion at the Coffee Hut, several of us were discussing our teaching reviews that had just appeared in a student published booklet called CAPE (Course and Professor Evaluations). Harry, who is meticulous in his dress, was particularly proud of the following comment made by an undergraduate: "This was not a very interesting course, but the Prof's a snappy dresser!"

At the Conference Banquet, Professor Phillip Anderson of Princeton University, one of Harry's old friends and colleagues from the Bell Labs days; reminisced about the 'old times' and described some of Harry's research accomplishments. A number of other colleagues and friends also made brief remarks. Harry's response, which reflects his usual charm and sense of humor, is given below.

"It is not easy for me to convey to you my appreciation for honoring me in this fashion. As I was saying to Dean Attiyeh, when he congratulated me yesterday, I am particularly appreciative of this honor, because it is probably undeserved. You see, if it were fully deserved, I would be able to say: well, I had it coming. But as it is, I feel I am getting something for nothing, and that is always a pleasurable sensation. The reason why I feel somewhat undeserving is because I have always taken a rather hedonistic view of physics, in that I have worked on the urgent and burning problems of the day if and only if I found them to be amusing. Perhaps that is no way to maximize your fame and fortune, but it sure is a lot of fun.

By the time you are seventy years old, you are supposed to have learned a few things. Furthermore, you are supposed to communicate the essence of what you have learned to your younger associates, whether they want to hear it or not. So here are a few gems that I have extracted from my long years in our profession. First of all. I found that the notion that people become less productive with advancing years is probably not correct. They don't usually become less productive, they just become less relevant, present company always excepted, of course. In fact, they become better and better at what they do, but fewer and fewer people want to hear about it. Like aging cabaret dancers, they become like Antarctica: Everybody knows about it, but nobody wants to go there.

Secondly, and more seriously, I found that. in theoretical physics at least, the young people who have been coming out of school during the last fifteen or twenty years are much better trained in mathematical techniques than we were in my own youth. I am very puzzled by this, because their teachers were more or less of my own generation, so I don't see how they could have converted their students into such power houses of mathematical techniques. I can only conclude that these youngsters must have worked very hard to educate themselves, or must have been very brilliant. In either case, if my conclusion is correct, then we should pay them a great deal of respect, even if they make us feel stupid.

Another thing I have learned about our young colleagues is this: there are certain problems in theoretical physics that are well-known to be insoluble. Unaware of this, these brash youngsters go ahead and eventually solve them anyway, one way or the other. If they can't solve them in a head-on attack, they find ways to go around them. Unburdened by the wisdom of age, they plough ahead anyway. This leads me directly into my next task, that of giving some totally unwelcome advice to the younger people: Above all, don't get wiser as you get older. If you do, you will become too inhibited to try the impossible. and one can achieve the limits of the possible only by occasionally venturing beyond these limits. The famous proverb should really be transposed. It should read: Angels rush in where fools fear to tread.

Secondly, if you publish something, and they don't believe you right away, say to hell with it and go on to the next thing. That sounds downright immoral, but I don't think it is. I remember that Hitler used to frequently say: History will decide. And, as it turned out. he was right, at least in his own case. Finally, always work on good ideas, rather than on your own ideas. If I had followed this advice myself, instead of narcissistically pursuing my own thing, I would by now have become even more insufferable than I already am.

Speaking of insufferable, I think it is time to wind down with a couple of personal remarks. True, I am finally getting old, but I now would like to be twenty five or even thirty five years old only if I would know what I know now. Otherwise, I want no part of it. I think it is true what they say: 'You are young only once, but if you work it right, once is enough: And I must admit, I harbor the illusion that I have worked it more or less right.

Be that as it may: I assure you, I will long remember this meeting, and when I finally kick over and get to the Pearly Gates, I will take with me a list of participants and put in a good word for you. Who knows, as these controversies on high Tc's, Kondo lattices, and heavy fermions heat up, some of you may need a good word from me. Thank you all very much."

Research Statement and Selected Publications

Dr Suhl's research covers the following areas: statistical mechanics and critical effects in non-equilibrium systems, magnetism on macroscopic and mesoscopic length scales, reaction kinetics and non-linear dynamics.

As an example of the first and second items, we examine the role of self-organized criticality in magnetic domain formation. Currently we examine magnetization reversal processes and magnetic multilayer structures. In reaction kinetics, the research is directed towards finding formulae for rate constants when traditional rate theory fails.

In non-linear dynamics, we attempt to determine the kind of states in which complex systems settle down, starting from unstable configurations.

Selected Publications:

Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics to Various Problems in Condensed Matter Physics. Current Trends in Condensed Matter Physics, Proceedings of Universidade de Brasilia Winter School on "Non-linear Physical Phenomena," July, 1989, eds. A. Ferraz, F. Oliveira and R. Osorio (World Scientific, Teaneck, NJ, 1989).

Some Nonlinear Effects in Magnetically Ordered Materials, in Nonlinear Phenomena and Chaos in Magnetic Materials, ed P.E. Wigen (World Scientific, Teaneck,NJ, 1989).

Motion of a Bloch Domain Wall. With D. Bouzidi. Phys. Rev. Lett., 65, 2587 (1990).

Scaling of Critical Self-Organized Magnetic Domain Formation. With X. Che. Phys. Rev. B 44, 155 (1991).

Front Propagation into an Unstable Ferromagnetic State. With H.J. Elmer and J. Burns. Europhys. Lett. 22, 399 (1993).

Magnetic Susceptibility of a Real Ferromagnet near the Coexistence condition. With Rodrigo Arias. Phys. Rev. B 51, 979 (1995).

References

• UCSD Libraries
• Array of Contemporary American Physicists
• Professor Brian Maple