Sir Alfred Brian Pippard, FRS (7 September 1920 – 21 September 2008), was a British physicist. He was

Cavendish Professor of Physics The Cavendish Professorship is one of the senior faculty positions in physics at the University of Cambridge. It was founded on 9 February 1871 alongside the famous Cavendish Laboratory, which was completed three years later. William Cavendish, 7th ...

from 1971 until 1982 and an Honorary Fellow of

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

, of which he was the first President.

Biography

Pippard was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, where he graduated with MA (Cantab) and PhD degrees. After working as a scientific officer in

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

research during the Second World War, he was appointed as a Demonstrator in Physics at the University of Cambridge in 1946, subsequently becoming a Lecturer in the subject in 1950, a Reader in 1959, and the first John Humphrey Plummer Professor of Physics a year later. In 1971 he was elected Cavendish Professor of Physics. Pippard demonstrated the reality, as opposed to the mere abstract concept, of

Fermi surface In condensed matter physics, the Fermi surface is the surface in reciprocal space which separates occupied from unoccupied electron states at zero temperature. The shape of the Fermi surface is derived from the periodicity and symmetry of the crys ...

s in metals by establishing the shape of the Fermi surface of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

through measuring the reflection and absorption of microwave electromagnetic radiation (see the

anomalous skin effect Anomaly may refer to: Science Natural *Anomaly (natural sciences) **Atmospheric anomaly **Geophysical anomaly Medical *Congenital anomaly (birth defect), a disorder present at birth ** Physical anomaly, a deformation of an anatomical structure ...

). He also introduced the notion of

coherence length In physics, coherence length is the propagation distance over which a coherent wave (e.g. an electromagnetic wave) maintains a specified degree of coherence. Wave interference is strong when the paths taken by all of the interfering waves dif ...

superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

in his proposal for the non-local generalisation of the

London equations The London equations, developed by brothers Fritz and Heinz London in 1935, are constitutive relations for a superconductor relating its superconducting current to electromagnetic fields in and around it. Whereas Ohm's law is the simplest con ...

concerning

electrodynamics In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...

superfluids Superfluidity is the characteristic property of a fluid with zero viscosity which therefore flows without any loss of kinetic energy. When stirred, a superfluid forms vortices In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a reg ...

and superconductors. The non-local kernel proposed by Pippard, inferred on the basis of Chambers' non-local generalisation of

Ohm's law Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality, the resistance, one arrives at the usual mathematical equat ...

) can be deduced within the framework of the BCS ( Bardeen,

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

and Schrieffer) theory of superconductivity (a comprehensive description of the details of the London–Pippard theory can be found in the book by Fetter and Walecka). Pippard was the author of ''Elements of Classical Thermodynamics for Advanced Students of Physics'', ''Dynamics of Conduction Electrons'', and ''The Physics of Vibration''. He is also a co-author of the three-volumes encyclopaedia ''Twentieth Century Physics''. As the Cavendish Professor of Physics at Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, he compiled ''Cavendish Problems in Classical Physics'', based in large part on past examination questions for Cambridge physics students. Pippard was the doctoral supervisor of

Brian David Josephson Brian David Josephson (born 4 January 1940) is a Welsh theoretical physicist and professor emeritus of physics at the University of Cambridge. Best known for his pioneering work on superconductivity and quantum tunnelling, he was awarded the Nob ...

(awarded PhD in Physics in 1964) who in 1973 received the

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

(together with

Leo Esaki Reona Esaki (江崎玲於奈 ''Esaki Reona'', born March 12, 1925), also known as Leo Esaki, is a Japanese physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Ivar Giaever and Brian David Josephson for his work in electron tunneling i ...

and

Ivar Giaever Ivar Giaever ( no, Giæver, ; born April 5, 1929) is a Norwegian-American engineer and physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973 with Leo Esaki and Brian Josephson "for their discoveries regarding tunnelling phenomena in solids". G ...

) for his discovery of what is known as the

Josephson effect In physics, the Josephson effect is a phenomenon that occurs when two superconductors are placed in proximity, with some barrier or restriction between them. It is an example of a macroscopic quantum phenomenon, where the effects of quantum mec ...

References

Obituaries

* Anthony Tucker, ''Sir Brian Pippard'', The Guardian, Wednesday, 25 September 2008

* John Waldram, ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard (1920–2008)'', News and Events, University Offices, University of Cambridge, 24 September 2008

* ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard (1920–2008)'', Cambridge Network, 25 September 2008

(Reproduced from ''University of Cambridge Office of Communications''). * John Waldram, ''Brian Pippard (1920–2008): Low-temperature physicist who excelled in subtle intuitive concepts'', Nature 455, 1191 (30 October 2008)

* ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard'', Telegraph, 23 September 2008

* ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Cambridge physicist'', The Times, 25 September 2008

* Richard J. Eden, Richard Eden, ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard: Physicist who proved the existence of the Fermi surface and was the first President of Clare Hall, Cambridge'', The Independent, Tuesday, 7 October 2008

* Hamish Johnston, ''Sir Brian Pippard: 1920–2008'', PhysicsWorld, 24 September 2008

External links

The Cavendish Professorship of Physics
, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Department of Physics.

* Professor

George Zarnecki George Jerzy Zarnecki (Polish: Jerzy Żarnecki), CBE, FBA, FSA (12 September 1915 – 8 September 2008) was a Polish Professor of the History of Art. He was a scholar of Medieval art and English Romanesque sculpture, an area of study in which ...

, ''Lives remembered: Professor George Zarnecki and Professor Sir Brian Pippard'', The Times, 27 September 2008

* Professor Ernst Sondheimer, ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard'', The Independent, Friday, 10 October 2008

* ''Professor Sir Brian Pippard, President of CUMS, 7 September 1920 – 21 September 2008''
Cambridge University Musical Society
(CUMS) News, 25 September 2008

. * ''Brian Pippard dies aged 88'', Varsity (Cambridge), Varsity, 2008

* ''Professor Pippard papers HF/LEEWW: 2000.611 2000'', The National Archives

Contents: Typewritten manuscript by Professor Sir Brian Pippard entitled 'Reminiscences of Wartime Radar Research 1941–1945', together with three papers published in The Journal of The Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1946.
interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 31 March 2008 (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pippard, Brian Alfred 1920 births 2008 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society British physicists Knights Bachelor Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge People educated at Clifton College Presidents of the Institute of Physics Presidents of Clare Hall, Cambridge Cavendish Professors of Physics John Humphrey Plummer Professors