Daniel Frank Walls
FRS (13 September 1942 – 12 May 1999) was a New Zealand theoretical physicist specialising in
quantum optics
Quantum optics is a branch of atomic, molecular, and optical physics dealing with how individual quanta of light, known as photons, interact with atoms and molecules. It includes the study of the particle-like properties of photons. Photons have b ...
.
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Education
Walls gained a BSc in physics and mathematics and a first class honours MSc in physics at the University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn ...
. He then went to Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
as a Fulbright Scholar
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
, obtaining his PhD in 1969. He was supervised by Roy J. Glauber
Roy Jay Glauber (September 1, 1925 – December 26, 2018) was an American theoretical physicist. He was the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Born in New ...
who was later awarded a Nobel prize in 2005.
Career and research
After holding postdoctoral research
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
positions in Auckland and Stuttgart, Walls became a senior lecturer in physics at the University of Waikato
, mottoeng = For The People
, established = 1964; years ago
, endowment = (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $263.6 million (31 December 2020)
, chancellor = Sir Anand Satyanand, GNZM, QSO, KStJ
, vice_chancellor = Neil Quigley
, ci ...
in 1972, where he became professor in 1980. Together with his colleague Crispin Gardiner, during the next 25 years he established a major research centre for theoretical quantum optics in New Zealand and built active and productive collaborations with groups throughout the world.
In 1987 he moved to the University of Auckland as professor of theoretical physics.
His major research interests centred on the interaction and similarities between light and atoms. He was notable for his wide-ranging expertise in relating theory to experiment, and was involved in all major efforts to understand non-classical light. A seminal paper by Walls with his first graduate student Howard Carmichael, showed how to create antibunched light, in which photon
A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always m ...
s arrive at regular intervals, rather than randomly.
Walls was a pioneer in the study of ways that the particle-like nature of light (photons) could be controlled to make optical systems less susceptible to unwanted fluctuations, in particular by the use of squeezed light, a concept formulated by Carlton Caves
Carlton Morris Caves is an American theoretical physicist. He is currently Professor Emeritus and Research Professor of Physics and Astronomy
at the University of New Mexico. Caves works in the areas of
physics of information; information, entro ...
. In squeezed light, some fluctuations can be made very small provided other fluctuations are correspondingly large.
He made major contributions to the theory of quantum measurement such as those involving Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's"which-path" experiment, and the quantum nondemolition measurement. Walls also used a simple field theoretical approach to explain and corroborate Dirac's description of photon interference and in particular Dirac's statement "that a photon interferes only with itself."
In the later stages of his career he focused his research efforts on the theoretical aspects of the newly created state of matter, the Bose–Einstein condensate
In condensed matter physics, a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter that is typically formed when a gas of bosons at very low densities is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero (−273.15 °C or −459.67&nb ...
(BECs). Some of his contributions in the field include the prediction of the interference signature of quantized vortices, and the collapses and revivals of the Josephson coupled BECs.
Awards and honours
Walls was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1992. Walls was also elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
(1981) and the Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
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* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
(FRSNZ). In 1995 he was awarded the Dirac Prize
Distributed Research using Advanced Computing (DiRAC) is an integrated supercomputing facility used for research in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology in the United Kingdom. DiRAC makes use of multi-core processors and provides a variety o ...
for theoretical physics.
The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, a New Zealand Centre of Research excellence based in the University of Otago
, image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg
, image_size =
, caption = University clock tower
, motto = la, Sapere aude
, mottoeng = Dare to be wise
, established = 1869; 152 years ago
, type = Public research collegiate u ...
, was named after Jack Dodd and Dan Walls in recognition of their pioneering roles in establishing New Zealand's as an internationally recognised standing in Photonics, Quantum Optics and Ultra-Cold atoms.
Personal life
Dan Walls had one sister. He married Fari Khoy in 1968 with whom he had one son, Mark, in 1980. This marriage ended in 1986. His partner in later years was Pamela King. Walls died of cancer at hospital, in Auckland, aged 57.
Legacy
In 2008 the New Zealand Institute of Physics named a biennial award in honour of Walls. The Dan Walls Medal is awarded to "the physicist working in New Zealand who is deemed to have made the greatest impact nationally and/or internationally in their field through predominantly New Zealand-based research". Winners have included Paul Callaghan
Sir Paul Terence Callaghan ( ; 19 August 1947 – 24 March 2012) was a New Zealand physicist who, as the founding director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology at Victoria University of Wellington, held t ...
, David Parry, Jeff Tallon, Matt Visser
Matt Visser is a mathematics Professor at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand.
Work
Visser's research interests include general relativity, quantum field theory and cosmology.
Visser has produced a large number of research paper ...
, Howard Carmichael, Peter Schwerdtfeger, and Jenni Adams.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walls, Daniel Frank
1942 births
1999 deaths
People from Napier, New Zealand
Optical physicists
Quantum physicists
Theoretical physicists
University of Auckland alumni
New Zealand Fellows of the Royal Society
Fellows of Optica (society)
Harvard University alumni
Academic staff of the University of Auckland
Academic staff of the University of Waikato
New Zealand physicists
20th-century New Zealand scientists
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Fellows of the American Physical Society