Sam Edwards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1928-02-01)1 February 1928 Swansea, Wales |
| Died | 7 May 2015(2015-05-07) (aged 87) Cambridge, England |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge Harvard University |
| Known for | path integral formulation polymer physics spin glass granular material |
| Awards | Maxwell Medal and Prize (1974) Davy Medal (1984) Boltzmann medal (1995) Royal Medal (2001) Dirac Medal (2005) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | A new approach to the theory of renormalised fields (1954) |
| Doctoral advisor | Julian Schwinger |
| Doctoral students | Elliott H. Lieb Monica Olvera de la Cruz Michael Cates Nigel Goldenfeld Tanniemola Liverpool |
Sir Samuel Frederick EdwardsFRS FLSW (1 February 1928 – 7 May 2015) was aWelshphysicist.[1][2]TheSam Edwards Medal and Prize is named in his honour.[3]
Edwards was born on 1 February 1928 inSwansea, Wales, the son of Richard and Mary Jane Edwards.He was educated at theBishop Gore School, Swansea, andGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, theUniversity of Manchester, and atHarvard University, in theUnited States.[2] He wrote his thesis underJulian Schwinger on the structure of the electron, and subsequently developed the functional integral form of field theory.
Edwards's work incondensed matter physics started in 1958 with a paper[pubs 1] which showed that statistical properties of disordered systems (glasses, gels etc.) could be described by theFeynman diagram andpath integral methods invented in quantum field theory. During the following 35 years Edwards worked in the theoretical study of complex materials, such as polymers, gels, colloids and similar systems. His paper[pubs 2] came in 1965 which "in one stroke founded the modern quantitative understanding of polymer matter."[1]Pierre-Gilles de Gennes extended Edwards's 1965 work, ultimately leading to de Gennes's1991 Nobel Prize in Physics.[1]
Edwards invented what is known as thereplica trick or replica method to evaluate the disorder-averagedfree energy of glassy systems, which has been successfully applied tospin glass and toamorphous solids. His 1971 paper[4] was the first paper to introduce thereplica trick and Edwards' work led ultimately toGiorgio Parisi's2021 Nobel Prize in Physics.
The Doi-Edwards theory of polymer meltviscoelasticity originated from an initial publication of Edwards in 1967,[pubs 3] was expanded upon by de Gennes in 1971, and was subsequently formalized through a series of publications between Edwards andMasao Doi in the late 1970s.[1]
He was Chairman of the Science Research Council 1973-1977 and between 1984 and 1995 wasCavendish Professor of Physics atCambridge University. He was a member of the Board of Sponsors of TheBulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Past President of Cambridge Society for the Application of Research.
Edwards was knighted in 1975. Awards presented to him include theDavy Medal (1984) and theRoyal Medal (2001) of theRoyal Society,[5] theBoltzmann medal of theInternational Union of Pure and Applied Physics (1995),[6] and theDirac Medal of theInternational Centre for Theoretical Physics (2005). He was also a Founding Fellow of theLearned Society of Wales and he held an honorary degree (Doctor of Science) from the University of Bath (1978).
In 1953 Edwards married Merriell E.M. Bland, with whom he had three daughters and a son. His relaxations were gardening and chamber music.Edwards died inCambridge on 7 May 2015.[1][7]
{{cite book}}:|author= has generic name (help)Professor Sam Edwards, who recently became chairman of the Science Research Council, describes himself as someone who has always had a taste for difficult problems. Recently, he talked to Martin Sherwood about some of the problems he has tackled in chemistry and physics, and some of those he will now have to tackle as a full-time administrator.
Media related toSam Edwards (physicist) at Wikimedia Commons