Eric Jakeman facts for kids

Eric Jakeman, born in 1939, is a British scientist. He is known for his work in mathematical physics. This field uses math to understand how things work in the universe. He focused on how waves behave. He also studied statistics and quantum statistics. He is now a retired professor at the University of Nottingham.

His Early Life and Studies

Eric Jakeman grew up in Mansfield, England. He went to The Brunts School there. He then went to Birmingham University. In 1960, he earned his degree in mathematical physics. He continued his studies and got his PhD in 1963. His PhD research was about superconductivity theory. This is a topic about materials that can conduct electricity perfectly.

His Career in Science

Eric Jakeman had a long and important career. He worked at the Defence Research Agency. There, he led a section that studied how light and waves scatter. This area is called quantum optics.

He was also a visiting professor at Imperial College London. From 1994 to 2003, he helped lead the Institute of Physics. This is a major group for physicists in the UK. In 1996, he became a professor at the University of Nottingham. He taught about how statistics apply to light. He was also part of the Council for the European Physical Society for many years.

Awards and Special Honours

Eric Jakeman received several important awards for his work. In 1977, he was given the Maxwell Medal. This award came from the Institute of Physics. He earned it for his studies in statistical optics. This field looks at how light behaves in a statistical way.

In 1990, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK. It means he is recognized as one of the best in his field.

What His Research Was About

His work focused on how waves behave. He studied waves, especially those from lasers. He looked at how light scatters. His ideas helped develop a method called photon correlation spectroscopy. This method uses light to study tiny particles. It helps scientists understand how things move and are structured. This is useful in many areas. These areas include engineering, medicine, physics, and biology.

He also studied how waves scatter in a complex way. This is called non-Gaussian scattering. He created new ways to understand noise in signals. These ideas are used in many areas. They help with problems in optics, microwaves, and sound.

Other Contributions

Beyond waves, Eric Jakeman also studied heat and mass transfer. This is about how heat and materials move. He looked at how crystals grow. He helped explain a concept called doubly-diffusive convection. This is when two different things, like heat and salt, move at different speeds. It helps explain how some materials form.