Robert Coleman Richardson
Robert Coleman Richardson (born June 26, 1937 in Washington, DC , † February 19, 2013 in Ithaca , New York ) was an American physicist . Together with David Morris Lee and Douglas Dean Osheroff , he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 "for the discovery of superfluidity in helium-3 at very low temperatures" .
Life
Richardson studied at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and in 1966 at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina , PhD . He was a postdoc at Cornell University from 1966 to 1968 . In 1968 he became professor of physics at the university, and since 1990 he has also been director of the laboratory for atomic and solid state physics .
In superfluid fluids, the atoms lose their typically random motion, they orient themselves in a coordinated manner; as a result, the fluid loses internal friction and shows non-classic effects. Today the superfluid phases of helium-3 are among the most precisely studied states of matter.
Richardson was a member of the National Science Board and the Executive Committee of the National Science Foundation (NFS).
He was married and had one daughter.
Awards (selection)
- 1981: Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize
- 1981: Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1983: Fellow of the American Physical Society
- 1986: Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
- 1995: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1996: Nobel Prize in Physics
- 2001: Member of the American Philosophical Society
literature
- Douglas D. Osheroff: Robert Richardson (1937-2013). Discoverer of Superfluidity in Helium-3. In: Nature . Volume 495, No. 7442, 2013, p. 450, doi: 10.1038 / 495450a
- Kenneth Chang: Robert C. Richardson, Laureate in Physics, Dies at 74 . In: The New York Times . February 21, 2013.
- Anne Ju: Robert C. Richardson, Nobel laureate and Cornell physicist, dies. In: Cornell Chronicle. 20th February 2013.
Web links
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 1996 award to Robert C. Richardson
- Robert C. Richardson (Cornell University) website
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Robert Coleman Richardson. American Philosophical Society, accessed November 5, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Richardson, Robert Coleman |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Washington, DC |
| DATE OF DEATH | 19th February 2013 |
| Place of death | Ithaca , New York |