Hendrik Casimir | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Casimir in 1958 | |
| Born | (1909-07-15)15 July 1909 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Died | 4 May 2000(2000-05-04) (aged 90) Heeze, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | University of Leiden |
| Known for | Casimir effect Casimir invariant Casimir–Polder force Gorter–Casimir model |
| Awards | George E. Pake Prize (1999) Matteucci Medal (1985) Wilhelm Exner Medal (1982) Pour le Mérite (1982) IRI Medal (1976) ForMemRS (1970) Fritz London Memorial Lecture (1958) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Leiden Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium |
| Thesis | Rotation of a rigid body in quantum mechanics (1931) |
| Doctoral advisor | Paul Ehrenfest |
| Notable students | Carolyne Van Vliet |
Hendrik Brugt Gerhard CasimirForMemRS[1] (15 July 1909 – 4 May 2000) was a Dutchphysicist who made significant contributions to the field ofquantum mechanics andquantum electrodynamics. He is best known for his work on theCasimir effect, which describes the attractive force between two uncharged plates in a vacuum due to quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field.
Hendrik Casimir is also known for his research on the two-fluid model ofsuperconductors (together withC. J. Gorter[2]) in 1934.
Casimir was born 15 July 1909.[1] He studied theoretical physics at theUniversity of Leiden[3] underPaul Ehrenfest, where he received hisPh.D. in 1931.[4] His Ph.D. thesis dealt with the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and thegroup theory of the rotations of molecules.[5] During that time he also spent some time in Copenhagen withNiels Bohr, where he helped Bohr support the latter's hypothesis of thegunslinger effect with mock shoot-outs on campus.[6]
From 1932 to mid-1933, Casimir worked as an assistant toWolfgang Pauli atETH Zurich. During this period, he worked on the relativistic theory of the electron, in particular, evaluating deviations of theKlein-Nishina equation in the case of bound electrons. To attack the problem, he invented a number of mathematical tools. One in particular is still referred to as the “Casimir trick": in particle interaction calculations, it is a familiar procedure of trace formation and projections using products ofDirac matrices.
In 1938, Casimir became a physics professor atLeiden University. At that time, he was actively studying bothheat conduction andelectrical conduction, and contributed to the attainment of millikelvin temperatures.
In 1942, duringWorld War II, Casimir moved to thePhilips Natuurkundig Laboratorium (Philips Physics Laboratory, NatLab) inEindhoven, the Netherlands.[7] He remained an active scientist and in 1945 wrote a well-known paper onLars Onsager's principle of microscopic reversibility. He became a co-director of Philips NatLab in 1946 and a member of the board of directors of the company in 1956.[8] He retired from Philips in 1972.[9]
Although he spent much of his professional life in industry, Hendrik Casimir was one of the great Dutch theoretical physicists. Casimir made many contributions to science during his years in research from 1931 to 1950. These contributions include: pure mathematics,Lie groups (1931);hyperfine structure, calculation of nuclear quadrupole moments, (1935); low temperature physics, magnetism, thermodynamics ofsuperconductors,paramagnetic relaxation (1935–1942); applications of Onsager's theory of irreversible phenomena (1942–1950). He helped found theEuropean Physical Society and became its president from 1972 till 1975. In 1979 he was one of the key speakers atCERN's 25th anniversary celebrations. In 1946 he became member of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.[10]
While atPhilips NatLab, in 1948 Casimir, collaborating withDirk Polder, predicted thequantum mechanical attraction between conducting plates now known as theCasimir effect, which has important consequences inMicro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), among others.
He was awarded six honorary doctor degrees by universities outside the Netherlands. He received numerous awards and prizes, among them the illustriousIRI Medal from theIndustrial Research Institute in 1976. He was a Foreign Associate of theNational Academy of Engineering. In 1982, he was awarded theWilhelm Exner Medal.[11] He was an elected member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences, and theAmerican Philosophical Society.[12][13][14]
