| Tikalon Blog is now in archive mode.
An easily printed and saved version of this article, and a link
to a directory of all articles, can be found below: |
|
This article |
| Directory of all articles |
Philip W. Anderson (1923-2020)
May 25, 2020
In this
competitive world, everyone is out to get someone's attention. This
human trait has been programmed into us by
evolution to help in
attracting potential
mates, and it's been extended into the lives of today's
scientists in the form of
proposal writing. Written proposals too often lay dormant in huge stacks of other proposals, so a scientist or
technology entrepreneur has better success in face-to-face contact with those who hold the purse-strings.
It's usually hard to isolate such important people long enough for a
conversation. Fortunately,
elevators, aside from being an easy method of moving between
building floors, are also small enclosed spaces that hold just a few people. That's why the
elevator pitch was developed. An elevator pitch is a necessarily short
verbal description of an
idea one can present in the hope of generating enough interest to get a follow-up
meeting.
The concept of the elevator pitch flashed through my
mind in 1979 when I found myself alone in an elevator with
Nobel Laureate,
Philip W. Anderson (1923-2020), at a
Conference on
magnetism. Although I recognized him, and we acknowledged each other's presence, he surely had no idea who I was, nor would he have cared. This elevator trip lasted just a few seconds, Anderson exited on his floor, and that was that. Phil Andersen died on March 20, 2020 in
Princeton, New Jersey, near
Bell Labs and
Princeton University where he spent most of his
career.[1-4] Anderson was associated with Princeton University for 45 years.[2]
.jpg)
Philip W. Anderson (1923-2020).
(Wikimedia Commons photo by Chaiken.)
Anderson was born into a
family of
academics in
Urbana, Illinois, where he lived from 1923 to 1940. In Anderson's own words, his was a family of "secure but
impecunious Midwestern academics."[5] His
father, Harry Warren Anderson, was a
professor of
plant pathology at the
University of Illinois, Urbana, his
maternal grandfather was a professor of
mathematics at
Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana), and his
mother's brother was a professor of
English, also at Wabash College. His parents'
friends included
physicists who encouraged Anderson's interest in
physics.[5] His parents were quite
politically motivated, and they influenced Anderson in espousing
liberal causes, not accepting
classified work, and taking a position against the
Vietnam War.[5]
Anderson was a
teenager when his father spent a
sabbatical year in
England and
Europe in 1937.[5] Home again in
high school, he was influenced by an excellent mathematics
teacher, so he started in mathematics at
Harvard University, full-supported by a
scholarship.[5] At Harvard, he was interested also in the
humanities, and he
graduated after three years with a physics
degree at age nineteen.[3,5] After graduation, he worked on
antennas at the
Naval Research Laboratory, getting a
deferment from
military service during
World War II for having a job that aided the war effort. His work at NRL brought him in contact with
engineers from
Bell Telephone and
Western Electric, whose work he
admired. After the war, Anderson returned to Harvard for
graduate school in physics.[5]
At Harvard, every physics
graduate student wanted to work on
quantum electrodynamics under
Julian Schwinger (1918-1994), about whom I wrote in an
earlier article (Julian Schwinger, January 29, 2015). Anderson decided that this "would lead only to standing in the
long line outside Schwinger's
office,"[5] so he became a student under
John Van Vleck (1899-1980).[3,5] Anderson was able to apply the mathematical techniques of
quantum field theory to the problem of
spectral line broadening at
radio frequencies.[5] At Harvard, he became acquainted with
science philosopher,
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996),[6] and
Tom Lehrer (b. 1928).[7]
After Anderson finished his
Ph.D. under Van Vleck in 1949, he joined
Bell Telephone Laboratories (a.k.a., Bell Labs), which eventually relocated to
Murray Hill, New Jersey, in 1967. At Bell Labs, Anderson worked alongside such
solid state luminaries as
John Bardeen (1908-1991),
William Shockley (1910-1989),
Charles Kittel (1916-2019), and
Conyers Herring (1914-2009). His continuing education at Bell included
crystallography with
Elizabeth (Betty) Wood (1912–2006).[5] Anderson was a
Fulbright Scholar in physics in
Japan in 1953, and he spent a year from 1961-1962 at
Cavendish Laboratory and
Churchill College, and his association with
Cambridge University was extended through 1975 as a
visiting professor of
theoretical physics.[5] While still associated with Bell Labs, Anderson replaced this Cambridge appointment with a half-time appointment at Princeton University.[5]
Portion of fig. 1, page 48, of the Crystal Orientation Manual by Elizabeth A. Wood.[8] This illustrates the facets of a cubic crystal.
I did a lot of Xray crystallography of garnets at one time. Garnet, one example being the laser crystal, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), is a cubic crystal.
(Scan of my copy. Click for larger image.)
While at Bell Labs, Anderson shared equally the 1977
Nobel Prize in Physics with his
thesis adviser, van Vleck, and
Nevill Mott (1905-1996) "for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the
electronic structure of magnetic and
disordered systems." At the troubled times of the
breakup of the Bell System, Anderson's Bell Labs role was shifted to
consultant to the new Vice President of Research and fellow Nobel Laureate,
Arno Penzias (b. 1933). It was time for him to leave Bell Labs, so Anderson
retired in 1984 to become
Joseph Henry Professor of Physics at Princeton. Aside from Princeton, Anderson was heavily involved with the
Sante Fe Institute, an organization dedicated to his idea of
emergence and his ideals of
interdisciplinarity.[5]
Anderson is known in
condensed matter physics for his explanation of
antiferromagnetism.[2-3] In
ferromagnetism,
electron spins on adjacent
atomic sites are aligned
parallel to each other, and this provides the expected
lowest energy configuration. In antiferromagnetism, the spins are aligned
antiparallel, which didn't seem to make sense as a
ground state configuration. But Anderson showed that the
quantum fluctuations thought to prevent this alignment would
cancel out.[3]
semiconductors were an important research topic at Bell Labs, and Anderson showed how
defects caused by
impurities in a crystal will trap electrons in a
quantum state called
Anderson localization.[2-4]
One of Anderson's
controversial theories was his
resonating valence bond theory of
high-temperature superconductivity (HTS).[1-3] The
principle of HTS is still unexplained.[2-3] One interesting success was a 1962 theory that explained how
phonons,
acoustic waves in
solids, acquired
mass within
superconductors.[1] The central idea of this paper allowed fellow theorist,
Peter Higgs (b. 1929), to explain just a year later how all
elementary particles get their mass from interactions with the
vacuum state.[2]
Another of Anderson's insights was the idea of
emergent phenomena, the idea that new properties appear as systems get more
complex.[3] This was contrary to the prevailing notion in physics,
reductionism, that everything can be explained if we discover the properties of its smallest parts.[1-3] He expressed this idea in a 1972 paper entitled, "More is Different."[9] Anderson helped in the creation of the Santa Fe Institute, an interdisciplinary center for exploration of this new science of
complexity.[1-3] As the Santa Fe Institute president,
David Krakauer (b. 1967), wrote in the Institute's announcement of Anderson's death,
"His 'More is Different' article from Science in 1972 was the most important and rigorous refutation of the foolishness of reductionism for complex systems yet published. Not only did Phil articulate why confusing parts for the whole was a problem, but in the process, he explained why different fields of inquiry - from genetics to economics - needed to exist."[3]
Anderson is recalled as stating that "Theoretical physics is not just doing
calculations. It's setting up the problems so that any
fool could do the
calculation."[3] Two of Anderson's
students,
Brian Josephson (b. 1940) and
Duncan Haldane (b. 1951), would become Nobel Laureates themselves, Josephson for the
eponymous Josephson effect, and Haldane for
topological phases of matter.[3] His battle against the reductionist approach targeted
particle physicists, whom he he thought were asserting that theirs was a more fundamental science, and everything else was just engineering.[3-4] His part of the battle was
Congressional testimony to stop the
Superconducting Supercollider.[4] Anderson also had a low opinion of
string theory, calling its practitioners
theologians.[3]
Along with being awarded the Nobel Prize, Anderson received the
US National Medal of Science in 1982, and an
honorary degree from his parents'
alma mater, the University of Illinois, and foreign membership in the
Royal Society.[1,5] He was also a first-degree
master of the
Chinese board game go, a
popular topic in artificial intelligence, which he had picked up while living in Japan.[1,3] He claimed that there were only four go players in Japan who could best him.[3] He received a lifetime achievement award from the
Japanese professional go association, the Nihon Ki-in, in 2007.[3]
Portion of a go game board.
Go is more complex than chess, since there are more than 10300 possible go games. Unlike games such as chess, all go moves are possible at all times, and this leads to its complexity.
(Wikimedia Commons photo by Shizhao.)
References:
- Nobel laureate and Princeton physicist Philip Anderson dies at age 96, Princeton University Press Release, March 30, 2020.
- Adrian Cho, "Philip Anderson, legendary theorist whose ideas shaped modern physics, dies," Science, March 30, 2020, doi:10.1126/science.abb9809.
- Daniel Garisto, "In memoriam: Philip Anderson," Santa Fe Institute Press Release, March 30, 2020.
- John Horgan, "Philip Anderson, Gruff Guru of Physics and Complexity Research, Dies," Scientific American, March 30, 2020.
- Philip W. Anderson - Biographical, from Nobel Lectures, Physics 1971-1980, Stig Lundqvist, Editor, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1992.
- Fifty Years of Paradigm Shifting, This Blog, February 25, 2013.
- How could any mention of Tom Lehrer in a science blog not include a link to "The Elements" (Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" animated, YouTube Video by Timwi Heizmann, August 19, 2008).
- Elizabeth A. Wood, Crystal Orientation Manual, Columbia University Press, New York, 1963.
- P. W. Anderson, "More Is Different," Science, vol. 177, no. 4047. (August 4, 1972), pp. 393-396, DOI: 10.1126/science.177.4047.393. Available as a PDF file here.
Linked Keywords: Competition (economics); human trait; evolution; interpersonal attraction; mating; mate; scientist; grant writing; proposal writing; technology; entrepreneurship; entrepreneur; conversation; elevator; storey; building floor; elevator pitch; speech; verbal; idea; meeting; mind; Nobel Prize in Physics; Nobel Laureate; Philip W. Anderson (1923-2020); academic conference; magnetism; Princeton, New Jersey; Bell Labs; Princeton University; career; Wikimedia Commons; Chaiken; family; academic personnel; academics; Urbana, Illinois; impecunious; Midwestern United States; father; professor; plant pathology; University of Illinois, Urbana; grandparent; maternal grandfather; mathematics; Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana); uncle; mother's brother; English language; friendship; friend; physicist; physics; politics; political; motivation; motivated; social liberalism; liberal cause; classified information; Vietnam War; adolescence; teenager; sabbatical; England; Europe; high school; teacher; Harvard University; scholarship; humanities; graduation; graduate; bachelor's degree; antenna (radio); Naval Research Laboratory; Selective Service System; deferment; military service; World War II; engineer; Bell System; Bell Telephone; Western Electric; admiration; admire; graduate school; postgraduate education; graduate student; quantum electrodynamics; Julian Schwinger (1918-1994); queue; office; John Van Vleck (1899-1980); quantum field theory; spectral line broadening; radio frequency; philosophy of science; science philosopher; Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996); Tom Lehrer (b. 1928); Doctor of Philosophy; Ph.D.; Bell Telephone Laboratories (a.k.a., Bell Labs); Murray Hill, New Jersey; solid-state physics; John Bardeen (1908-1991); William Shockley (1910-1989); Charles Kittel (1916-2019); Conyers Herring (1914-2009); crystallography; Elizabeth (Betty) Wood (1912–2006); Fulbright Program; Fulbright Scholar; Japan; Cavendish Laboratory; Churchill College, Cambridge; Cambridge University; visiting scholar; visiting professor; theoretical physics; facet; cubic crystal system; Xray crystallography; garnet; laser; crystal; yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG); doctoral advisor; thesis adviser; Nevill Mott (1905-1996); electron; electronic; order and disorder (physics); disordered; breakup of the Bell System; consultant; Arno Penzias (b. 1933); retirement; retired; Joseph Henry; Sante Fe Institute; emergence; interdisciplinarity; condensed matter physics; antiferromagnetism; ferromagnetism; electron magnetic moment; electron spin; crystal structure; atomic site; parallel (geometry); lowest energy configuration; antiparallel; ground state configuration; quantum fluctuation; interference (wave propagation); semiconductor; crystallographic defect; impurity; quantum state; Anderson localization; controversy; controversial; resonating valence bond; high-temperature superconductivity (HTS); physical law; principle; phonon; acoustic wave; solid; mass; superconductivity; superconductor; Peter Higgs (b. 1929); elementary particles; vacuum state; emergence; emergent phenomena; complexity; complex; reductionism; David Krakauer (b. 1967); Science (journal); genetics; economics; calculation; fool; student; Brian Josephson (b. 1940); Duncan Haldane (b. 1951); eponym; eponymous; Josephson effect; topological order; topological phases of matter; particle physics; particle physicist; United States Congress; Congressional; testimony; Superconducting Supercollider; string theory; theology; theologian; US National Medal of Science; honorary degree; alma mater; Royal Society; master; Chinese; board game; go (game); go and artificial intelligence; Japanese professional go association, the Nihon Ki-in; chess; 10300 possible go games; Shizhao.