Tom W. B. Kibble - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Thomas Walter Bannerman Kibble, FRS, (born 1932) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

scientist and senior research investigator at The Blackett Laboratory, at Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

, UK. His research interests are in quantum field theory

Quantum field theory

Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...

, especially the interface between high-energy particle physics

Particle physics

Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...

and cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

. He has worked on mechanisms of symmetry breaking

Symmetry breaking

Symmetry breaking in physics describes a phenomenon where small fluctuations acting on a system which is crossing a critical point decide the system's fate, by determining which branch of a bifurcation is taken. To an outside observer unaware of the fluctuations , the choice will appear arbitrary...

, phase transitions and the topological defect

Topological defect

In mathematics and physics, a topological soliton or a topological defect is a solution of a system of partial differential equations or of a quantum field theory homotopically distinct from the vacuum solution; it can be proven to exist because the boundary conditions entail the existence of...

s (monopoles, cosmic strings or domain wall

Domain wall

A domain wall is a term used in physics which can have one of two distinct but similar meanings in magnetism, optics, or string theory. These phenomena can all be generically described as topological solitons which occur whenever a discrete symmetry is spontaneously broken.-Magnetism:In magnetism,...

s) that can be formed. His seminal paper on cosmic strings introduced the phenomenon into modern cosmology. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

(MA 1955, BSc 1956, PhD 1958).

Kibble is noted for his co-discovery of the Higgs–Kibble mechanism and Higgs boson

Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive elementary particle that is predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. Its existence is postulated as a means of resolving inconsistencies in the Standard Model...

with Gerald Guralnik

Gerald Guralnik

Gerald Stanford Guralnik is the Chancellor’s Professor of Physics at Brown University. He is most famous for his co-discovery of the Higgs mechanism and Higgs Boson with C. R. Hagen and Tom Kibble...

and C. R. Hagen

C. R. Hagen

Carl Richard Hagen is a professor of particle physics at the University of Rochester. He is most noted for his contributions to the Standard Model and Symmetry breaking as well as the co-discovery of the Higgs mechanism and Higgs boson with Gerald Guralnik and Tom Kibble...

. As part of Physical Review Letters

Physical Review Letters

Physical Review Letters , established in 1958, is a peer reviewed, scientific journal that is published 52 times per year by the American Physical Society...

50th anniversary celebration, the journal recognized this discovery as one of the milestone papers in PRL history. For this discovery Dr. Kibble was awarded The American Physical Society's

American Physical Society

The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...

2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics

Sakurai Prize

The J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics, is presented by the American Physical Society at its annual "April Meeting", and honors outstanding achievement in particle physics theory...

. Dr. Kibble is also a Fellow of the Royal Society

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"...

, of the Institute of Physics

Institute of Physics

The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....

, and of Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

, a member of the American Physical Society

American Physical Society

, 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 the Academia Europaea

Academia Europaea

Academia Europæa is a European non-governmental scientific academy founded in 1988. Its members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. It publishes European Review through Cambridge Journals....

, and a CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

. He has been awarded the Hughes Medal

Hughes Medal

The Hughes Medal is awarded by the Royal Society of London "in recognition of an original discovery in the physical sciences, particularly electricity and magnetism or their applications". Named after David E. Hughes, the medal is awarded with a gift of £1000. The medal was first awarded in 1902 to...

of the Royal Society

Royal Society

and the Rutherford

Rutherford Medal and Prize

The Rutherford Medal and Prize is awarded once every two years by the Institute of Physics for "distinguished research in nuclear physics or nuclear technology."- History :...

and Guthrie Medals

Guthrie Medal and Prize

The Faraday Medal and Prize is a prize awarded annually by the Institute of Physics. The prize is awarded for "outstanding contributions to experimental physics, to a physicist of international reputation in any sector."...

of the Institute of Physics

Institute of Physics

The Institute of Physics is a scientific charity devoted to increasing the practice, understanding and application of physics. It has a worldwide membership of around 40,000....

.

Dr. Kibble is one of the two co-chairs of an interdisciplinary research Programme funded by the European Science Foundation

European Science Foundation

The European Science Foundation is an association of 78 member organisations devoted to scientific research in 30 European countries. It is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organisation that facilitates cooperation and collaboration in European research and development, European...

(ESF) on Cosmology in the Laboratory (COSLAB) which runs from 2001 to 2005. He was previously the coordinator of an ESF Network on Topological Defects in Particle Physics, Condensed Matter & Cosmology (TOPDEF). Kibble is the author, jointly with Frank Berkshire of the Imperial College Mathematics Department, of a textbook on classical mechanics

Classical mechanics

In physics, classical mechanics is one of the two major sub-fields of mechanics, which is concerned with the set of physical laws describing the motion of bodies under the action of a system of forces...

. The fifth edition was published by Imperial College Press

Imperial College Press

Imperial College Press was formed in 1995 and is a partnership between Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London and World Scientific publishing....

in Spring 2004. In 2008, Kibble was named an Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society

American Physical Society

.

Kibble is an avid cyclist. Tom was born in Madras, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

and is the son of author Helen Bannerman

Helen Bannerman

Helen Bannerman was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most notable being Little Black Sambo. She was born in Edinburgh and, because women were not admitted as students into British Universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews and attained...

and William Bannerman who was an officer in the Indian Medical Service

Indian Medical Service

The Indian Medical Service was one of the military medical services, which also had some civilian functions, in British India. It served during the two world wars, and was in existence until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947...

External links

See also