John M. Dawson

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John Myrick Dawson (born September 30, 1930 in Champaign , Illinois , † November 17, 2001 in Los Angeles ) was an American physicist who was particularly concerned with plasma physics . He was considered a pioneer in numerical simulation of plasmas and accelerator concepts based on plasma .

biography

Dawson studied at the University of Maryland , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1952, his master's degree in 1954 and his PhD in 1957. From 1956 he worked on the Matterhorn project (experiments on magnetic fusion) in Princeton as a scientist and from 1962 on at the plasma physics laboratory at Princeton University . In 1964 he became deputy head of the theory group there and in 1966 its head. At the same time he was a lecturer at Princeton University from 1960 to 1973. In 1969/70 he was at the Naval Research Laboratories, where he set up a group for the numerical simulation of plasmas.

In 1973 he went to the University of California, Los Angeles as a professor , where he was director of the Institute for Plasma Physics and Fusion Engineering from 1976 to 1987. From 1987 to 1989 he was deputy head of the institute and from 1993 to 1996 interim director. From 1996 he was director for new projects there. In 2001 he retired. He was a consultant at RCA Corporation (1962/63), Boeing (1964) and from 1973 to 1986 at TRW Systems.

Dawson was a leading plasma physicist in the United States who dealt with almost all aspects from basic research in plasma physics to space plasmas and astrophysics to fusion research (magnetic fusion and inertial fusion), accelerator concepts with plasmas and free electron lasers. In particular, he dealt with numerical simulation ( particle in cell computer model ) of plasmas. He held several patents. His innovations (partly with others) include the Plasma Beat Wave Accelerator , Laser Wake Field Accelerator (with Toshiki Tajima ), the Photon Accelerator , the Plasma Lens, the Plasma Wiggler and the Ion Channel Laser .

He also worked on isotope separation with applications to palladium isotopes in the radiation treatment of tumors (which, according to his obituary, he was especially proud of, having developed prostate cancer himself in the mid-1970s and developing the technique when he was recovering from the disease) and wrote a book for children Grandpa´sa Scientist . Dawson was since 1977 a member of the National Academy of Sciences , the American Association for the Advancement of Science , the New York Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society , whose board of directors was the plasma physics department in 1970/71. He received the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics in 1977 and the Aneesur Rahman Prize of the American Physical Society for Numerical Physics in 1994 . He was a Fulbright Fellow (visiting scholar at Nagoya University in 1964/65), received prizes for teaching from UCLA and was California Scientist of the Year.

The American Physical Society's John M. Dawson Prize for Plasma Physics , which has been awarded since 1983, is named in his honor .

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

literature

  • Thomas Katsouleas (Ed.): From fusion to light surfing. Lectures on plasma physics honoring John M. Dawson. Addison-Wesley, Redwood City CA et al. 1991, ISBN 0-201-55444-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary. In: The New York Times , November 30, 2001.
  2. ^ Dawson: Plasma Particle Accelerators. In: Scientific American. Vol. 260, No. 3, 1989, ISSN  0036-8733 , pp. 54-61.
  3. ^ T. Tajima, JM Dawson: Laser Electron Accelerator. In: Physical Review Letters. Vol. 43, No. 4, 1979, ISSN  0031-9007 , pp. 267-270, doi : 10.1103 / PhysRevLett . 43.267 .
  4. ↑ JM Dawson, HC Kim, D. Arnush, BD Fried, RW Gould, LO Heflinger, CF Kennel, TE Romesser, RL Stenzel, AY Wong, RF Wuerker: Isotope Separation in Plasmas by Use of Ion Cyclotron Resonance. In: Physical Review Letters. Vol. 37, No. 23, 1976, pp. 1547-1550, doi : 10.1103 / PhysRevLett.37.1547 .
  5. ↑ In Memoriam. Obituary at the University of California ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and obituary. In: The New York Times , November 30, 2001.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.universityofcalifornia.edu
  6. ^ Book of Members. Retrieved July 23, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Dawson, John M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dawson, John Myrick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Champaign (Illinois)
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 2001
Place of death los Angeles