Ian Grant (physicist) facts for kids

Ian Philip Grant is a British scientist who studies mathematical physics. He was born on December 15, 1930. He is a professor at the University of Oxford and was chosen to be a member of the Royal Society in 1992. This is a very important group for scientists. Professor Grant is famous for being a leader in computational physics. This means he uses computers to solve physics problems. He is best known for creating a special computer program called GRASP.

School and University

Ian Grant went to St Albans School, Hertfordshire from 1939 to 1948. After that, he went to Wadham College at the University of Oxford. He studied mathematics there and earned his MA degree in 1951. He continued his studies at the Clarendon Laboratory, also at Oxford, and received his D.Phil degree in 1954. A D.Phil is like a PhD, a very high university degree.

Working Life

Professor Grant had a long and important career.

• He worked at the UKAEA (United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority) in Aldermaston from 1957 to 1964. He started as a Senior Scientific Officer and later became a Principal Scientific Officer.
• From 1964 to 1969, he had a special research job. He worked at the Atlas Computer Laboratory, which was a big computer center, and also at Pembroke College, Oxford.
• He became a professor (called a Tutorial Fellow in Mathematics) at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1969. He worked there until 1998 and is now an Emeritus Fellow, meaning he is retired but still connected to the college.
• From 1992 to 1998, he was also a Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Oxford. He is now an Emeritus Professor there too.
• Since 2013, he has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge.

Amazing Discoveries and Computer Programs

Professor Ian Grant has made very important contributions to how we understand atoms. He studied how tiny particles inside atoms behave, especially in heavy atoms. This is important for understanding many things, from what happens in a lab to how stars work.

Relativistic Effects in Atoms

He helped develop the mathematical ideas about "relativistic effects" in atomic physics. This means he looked at how the rules of physics change when things move extremely fast, like electrons inside atoms. These effects are super important for understanding heavy atoms and atoms that have lost many electrons.

Creating Powerful Computer Programs

Professor Grant was also key in creating computer programs that scientists around the world still use.

• GRASP: This program helps scientists understand the structure of atoms. It uses special rules from relativity to make very accurate calculations.
• BERTHA: He and his team also created BERTHA. This program helps scientists understand how electrons behave in molecules that contain heavy atoms.
• DARC: Later, he helped create DARC. This program combines different tools, including parts of GRASP, to do even more complex calculations.

He also did important work on how light and energy move through the atmospheres of stars and planets.

Professor Grant wrote a book called Relativistic Quantum Theory of Atoms and Molecules: Theory and Computation. This book explains a lot about his work on atoms and molecules up to the mid-2000s.