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Kenneth Myron Case (September 23, 1923 – February 1, 2006) was an American physicist and applied mathematician, best known for his use of the mathematical methods of
quantum field theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and ...
(as developed in the 1940s) and
transport theory (in part from the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
) to a wide range of applied problems, especially many relevant to U.S. national security. He was an early member of the
JASON advisory group.
[Harvard
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 ...]
and matriculated in 1941, exempted from the World War II draft by extreme nearsightedness.
Manhattan Project
In 1943, Case was one of several Harvard physics undergraduates who relocated to
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...
, to work on an undisclosed project—the Manhattan Project. He soon came under the influence of
J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often ...
and was also working alongside other well-known physicists. Case developed new methods for calculating
neutron transport
Neutron transport (also known as neutronics) is the study of the motions and interactions of neutrons with materials. Nuclear scientists and engineers often need to know where neutrons are in an apparatus, what direction they are going, and how qu ...
and for estimating the explosive yield of bomb designs.
Completion of education
After the war, back at Harvard, Case completed his undergraduate degree and subsequently began graduate work under
Julian Schwinger
Julian Seymour Schwinger (; February 12, 1918 – July 16, 1994) was a Nobel Prize winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant ...
, earning his Ph.D. in 1948. He was then awarded a fellowship at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
in Princeton, where Oppenheimer was now director. Case's two years work at IAS on fundamental problems in field theory produced little of lasting importance, in part because of his insistence on using his mentor Schwinger's difficult formalism rather than the equivalent formalism of
Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
which was much more widely adopted by physicists.
Career
After an additional postdoctoral year at the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees.
The University of Roc ...
, Case in 1951 accepted a faculty position at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, there turning from fundamental physics to the application of deep mathematics to applied problems, initially
plasma waves In plasma physics, waves in plasmas are an interconnected set of particles and fields which propagate in a periodically repeating fashion. A plasma is a quasineutral, electrically conductive fluid. In the simplest case, it is composed of electron ...
and related transport theory. (For the latter, he became a consultant to
General Atomics
General Atomics is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, specializing in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion energy. The ...
in San Diego.) This work continued for about a decade, culminating in a 1960 paper that was subsequently cited more than 500 times.
In 1961, Case was invited to join the
JASON advisory group, a group of scientists who met for six weeks every summer to advise the U.S. government on technical problems in national security. Case's involvement with JASON became a focal point of his work, often leading to efforts, some publishable but others classified, that continued
beyond the JASON summer gathering. JASON reports in the 1960s through 1980s on topics close to Case's expertise include many on nonlinear wave phenomena in
plasma
Plasma or plasm may refer to:
Science
* Plasma (physics), one of the four fundamental states of matter
* Plasma (mineral), a green translucent silica mineral
* Quark–gluon plasma, a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics
Biology
* Blood pla ...
s, and in underwater acoustic and turbulent phenomena. Case was reportedly a part of the informal "JASON Navy", a subset of the group who worked for the U.S. Navy on highly classified issues relating to U.S. missile submarine security. Other JASON Navy members included
Walter Munk
Walter Heinrich Munk (October 19, 1917 – February 8, 2019) was an American physical oceanographer. He was one of the first scientists to bring statistical methods to the analysis of oceanographic data. His work won awards including the Nation ...
,
Edward Frieman
Edward Allan Frieman (January 19, 1926 – April 11, 2013) was an American physicist who worked on plasma physics and nuclear fusion. He was the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1986 through 1996, and then the senior vice ...
,
William Nierenberg
William Aaron Nierenberg (February 13, 1919 – September 10, 2000) was an American physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and was director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1965 through 1986. He was a co-founder of the Ge ...
, and
Curtis Callan
Curtis Gove Callan Jr. (born October 11, 1942) is an American theoretical physicist and the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics at Princeton University. He has conducted research in gauge theory, string theory, inst ...
.
[Ann Finkbeiner, The Jasons: The Secret History of Science's Postwar Elite (New York, Viking 2006)]"JASON Defense Advisory Panel Reports", Federation of American Scientists
/ref>
Case's changed academic affiliations in 1969, when he moved to Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...
in an arrangement that also made him a frequent presence in Princeton at IAS. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
in 1975.
Retirement and death
He retired from Rockefeller in 1988 and, with his wife Pat, moved to La Jolla, California
La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781.
La Jolla is surrounded on ...
, where he held an adjunct faculty position at UCSD
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
until his death in 2006 at age 82.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Case, Kenneth M.
1923 births
2006 deaths
University of Michigan faculty
Harvard College alumni
Rockefeller University faculty
University of California, San Diego faculty