Hendrik Casimir
Encyclopedia
Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir FRS
(July 15, 1909 in The Hague
, Netherlands
– May 4, 2000 in Heeze
) was a Dutch
physicist
best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect
(together with D. Polder
) in 1948.
, where he received his Ph.D.
in 1931. His Ph.D.
thesis dealt with the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and the group theory of the rotations of molecules. During that time he also spent some time in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr
. After receiving his Ph.D.
he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli
at Zürich. In 1938, he became a physics professor at Leiden University
. At that time, he was actively studying both heat conduction
and electrical conduction, and contributed to the attainment of millikelvin temperatures.
In 1942, during World War II, Casimir moved to the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium
(Philips Physics Laboratory, NatLab) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He remained an active scientist and in 1945 wrote a well-known paper on Lars Onsager
's principle of microscopic reversibility. He became a co-director of Philips NatLab in 1946 and a member of the board of directors of the company in 1956. He retired from Philips in 1972.
Although he spent much of his professional life in industry, Hendrik Casimir was one of the great Dutch theoretical physicists. Casimir made many contributions to science during his years in research from 1931 to 1950. These contributions include: pure mathematics, Lie group
s (1931); hyperfine structure
, calculation of nuclear quadrupole moments, (1935); low temperature physics, magnetism, thermodynamics of superconductors, paramagnetic relaxation (1935 - 1942); applications of Onsager's theory of irreversible phenomena (1942 - 1950). He helped found the European Physical Society
and became its president from 1972 till 1975. In 1979 he was one of the key speakers at CERN's 25th anniversary celebrations.
While at Philips
NatLab, in 1948 Casimir, collaborating with Dirk Polder
, predicted the quantum mechanical
attraction between conducting plates now known as the Casimir effect
, which has important consequences in Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
, among others.
He was awarded six honorary doctor degrees by universities outside the Netherlands. He received numerous awards and prizes. He was a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering
.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(July 15, 1909 in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
– May 4, 2000 in Heeze
Heeze
Heeze is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Heeze-Leende, about 9 km southeast of Eindhoven.Heeze was a separate municipality until 1997, when it merged with Leende....
) was a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect
Casimir effect
In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect and the Casimir–Polder force are physical forces arising from a quantized field. The typical example is of two uncharged metallic plates in a vacuum, like capacitors placed a few micrometers apart, without any external electromagnetic field...
(together with D. Polder
Dirk Polder
Dirk Polder was a Dutch physicist who, together with Hendrik Casimir, first predicted the existence of what today is known as the Casimir-Polder force, sometimes also referred to as the Casimir effect or Casimir force. He also worked on the similar topic of radiative heat transfer at nanoscale.-...
) in 1948.
Biography
He studied theoretical physics at the University of Leiden under Paul EhrenfestPaul Ehrenfest
Paul Ehrenfest was an Austrian and Dutch physicist, who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition and the Ehrenfest theorem.- Biography :Paul Ehrenfest was born and grew up in Vienna in a Jewish...
, where he received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1931. His Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
thesis dealt with the quantum mechanics of a rigid spinning body and the group theory of the rotations of molecules. During that time he also spent some time in Copenhagen with Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
. After receiving his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after being nominated by Albert Einstein, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or...
at Zürich. In 1938, he became a physics professor at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
. At that time, he was actively studying both heat conduction
Heat conduction
In heat transfer, conduction is a mode of transfer of energy within and between bodies of matter, due to a temperature gradient. Conduction means collisional and diffusive transfer of kinetic energy of particles of ponderable matter . Conduction takes place in all forms of ponderable matter, viz....
and electrical conduction, and contributed to the attainment of millikelvin temperatures.
In 1942, during World War II, Casimir moved to the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium
Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium
The Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium or NatLab was the Dutch section of the Philips research department, which did research for the product divisions of that company. Originally located in the Strijp district of Eindhoven, the facility moved to Waalre in the early 1960s...
(Philips Physics Laboratory, NatLab) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He remained an active scientist and in 1945 wrote a well-known paper on Lars Onsager
Onsager
Onsager may refer to:* Lars Onsager, a Norwegian–American physical chemist and theoretical physicist* Onsager reciprocal relations, certain relations between flows and forces in thermodynamic systems...
's principle of microscopic reversibility. He became a co-director of Philips NatLab in 1946 and a member of the board of directors of the company in 1956. He retired from Philips in 1972.
Although he spent much of his professional life in industry, Hendrik Casimir was one of the great Dutch theoretical physicists. Casimir made many contributions to science during his years in research from 1931 to 1950. These contributions include: pure mathematics, Lie group
Lie group
In mathematics, a Lie group is a group which is also a differentiable manifold, with the property that the group operations are compatible with the smooth structure...
s (1931); hyperfine structure
Hyperfine structure
The term hyperfine structure refers to a collection of different effects leading to small shifts and splittings in the energy levels of atoms, molecules and ions. The name is a reference to the fine structure which results from the interaction between the magnetic moments associated with electron...
, calculation of nuclear quadrupole moments, (1935); low temperature physics, magnetism, thermodynamics of superconductors, paramagnetic relaxation (1935 - 1942); applications of Onsager's theory of irreversible phenomena (1942 - 1950). He helped found the European Physical Society
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical societies of 41 countries, and some 3200 individual members. The Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft,...
and became its president from 1972 till 1975. In 1979 he was one of the key speakers at CERN's 25th anniversary celebrations.
While at Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
NatLab, in 1948 Casimir, collaborating with Dirk Polder
Dirk Polder
Dirk Polder was a Dutch physicist who, together with Hendrik Casimir, first predicted the existence of what today is known as the Casimir-Polder force, sometimes also referred to as the Casimir effect or Casimir force. He also worked on the similar topic of radiative heat transfer at nanoscale.-...
, predicted the quantum mechanical
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
attraction between conducting plates now known as the Casimir effect
Casimir effect
In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect and the Casimir–Polder force are physical forces arising from a quantized field. The typical example is of two uncharged metallic plates in a vacuum, like capacitors placed a few micrometers apart, without any external electromagnetic field...
, which has important consequences in Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
Microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...
, among others.
He was awarded six honorary doctor degrees by universities outside the Netherlands. He received numerous awards and prizes. He was a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
.
Publications
- H. B. G. Casimir, Haphazard Reality: half a century of science (Harper & Row, New York, 1983); Casimir's autobiography in English. ISBN 0-060-15028-9
- H. B. G. Casimir, Het toeval van de werkelijkheid: Een halve eeuw natuurkunde (Meulenhof, Amsterdam, 1992); Casimir's autobiography in Dutch. ISBN 9-029-09709-4
- H. B. G. Casimir, and D. Polder, The Influence of Retardation on the London-van der Waals Forces, Physical Review, Vol. 73, Issue 4, pp. 360–372 (1948). http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v73/i4/p360_1
- H. B. G. Casimir, On the attraction between two perfectly conducting plates, Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 51, pp. 793–795 (1948). http://www.historyofscience.nl/search/detail.cfm?pubid=2642&view=image&startrow=1
Obituaries
- D. Polder, Hendrik Burgt Gerhard Casimir, 15 juli 1909 — 4 mei 2000, Levensberichten en herdenkingen 2001, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, pp. 13–21 (in Dutch). ISBN 90-6984-314-5
- Steve K. Lamoreaux, Hendrik Burgt Gerhard Casimir, Biographical Memoirs, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 146, No. 3, September 2002, pp. 285–290. (PDF)
External links
- PhysicsWeb article on the Casimir Effect
- The Casimir Force
- C. J. Gorter, C. J. Gorter's life & science, University of Leiden, Leiden, The NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. http://www.lorentz.leidenuniv.nl/history/gorter/biography.html - Oral History interview transcript with Hendrik Casimir 5 and 6 July 1963, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives