Roy Kerr facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roy P. Kerr
|
|
|---|---|
Kerr in 2024
|
|
| Born | 16 May 1934 Kurow, New Zealand
|
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Education | St. Andrew's College, Christchurch |
| Alma mater |
|
| Known for | Kerr metric Kerr–Newman metric Kerr–Schild perturbations |
| Awards | Hector Medal (1982) Hughes Medal (1984) Rutherford Medal (1993) Albert Einstein Medal (2013) Crafoord Prize (2016) Oskar Klein Medal (2020) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Canterbury Syracuse University |
| Thesis | Equations of Motion in General Relativity (1960) |
Roy Patrick Kerr is a famous mathematician from New Zealand. He was born on May 16, 1934. He is best known for discovering the Kerr geometry. This is a special solution to Einstein's equations about gravity. His work helps us understand the strong gravity around spinning objects, like black holes. He even predicted spinning black holes before scientists actually found them!
Contents
Early Life and School
Roy Kerr was born in 1934 in a place called Kurow, New Zealand. His early life was a bit tough. When he was three, his mother had to leave. Later, when his father went to war, Roy lived on a farm. After the war, they moved to Christchurch.
Roy got into St Andrew's College, which is a private school. People there quickly saw how good he was at math. Even though the school didn't have a math teacher at the time, Roy was so smart that he went straight into the third year of math at Canterbury University College in 1951. This college later became the University of Canterbury. He finished his first degree in 1954.
In 1955, Roy moved to the University of Cambridge in England. There, he earned his PhD in 1959. His special project for his PhD was about how things move in general relativity, which is Einstein's theory of gravity.
Career and Discoveries
After finishing his studies, Roy Kerr worked at Syracuse University for a short time. He then worked for the United States Air Force. He thought it was funny that the Air Force wanted to study pure science, just like the Navy did!
Working with Gravity
In 1962, Roy Kerr joined a group of scientists at the University of Texas at Austin. This group studied general relativity.
In 1963, a scientist named Maarten Schmidt found out that some bright objects in space, called quasars, were actually very far away. They were giving off huge amounts of energy, and no one knew why. To figure this out, many scientists met at a conference in Dallas.
At this meeting, Roy Kerr shared his amazing discovery. He had found a way to solve Einstein's equations. This solution described the gravity around a spinning object, like a black hole.
Another famous scientist, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, said that finding Roy Kerr's solution was the most amazing thing in his 45 years of science. He said it perfectly showed how countless giant black holes in the universe work.
In 1965, Roy Kerr also helped develop other important ideas, like the Kerr–Newman metric. This is another way to describe black holes, but ones that also have an electric charge.
Back in New Zealand
In 1971, Roy Kerr went back to New Zealand. He became a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Canterbury. He worked there for 22 years and was even the head of the math department for 10 of those years. He retired in 1993.
Awards and Special Honours
Roy Kerr has received many important awards for his work:
- Hector Medal (1982): For his work on Einstein's equations.
- Hughes Medal (1984): For his important discovery of the "Kerr Black Hole."
- Rutherford Medal (1993): For his amazing discoveries about black holes.
- Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (2011): This is a special honour from New Zealand for his work in astrophysics.
- Albert Einstein Medal (2013): This is a very famous award from Switzerland. Roy Kerr was the first person from New Zealand to get it!
- Crafoord Prize in Astronomy (2016)
- Oskar Klein Medal (2020)
In 2008, he was also given a special position in Italy. A book called Cracking the Einstein Code was written about his work in 2009. Roy Kerr even wrote a small part for the book.
In 2015, the University of Canterbury gave him an honorary Doctor of Science degree. This was to celebrate his amazing contributions to science.
Personal Life
Roy Kerr is married to Margaret. In 2022, they moved back to Christchurch after living in Tauranga for nine years. Roy is also a very good bridge player. He even played for New Zealand in international games in the 1970s. He helped create a special way of playing bridge called the Symmetric Relay System.
