Ernst Helmut Brandt

Ernst Helmut Brandt (17 September 1941 – 1 September 2011) was a German theoretical physicist. He is best known for working on the Abrikosov vortex lattice in type-II superconductors, particularly with the ideal lattice, its nonlocal elastic response, lattice defects, pinning and geometrical effects in the electromagnetic response of superconductors.[1]

He was born in Berlin-Kaulsdorf, the second son of the publisher and bookseller Helmut Brandt and Elise Brandt (née Stümpfle).[2] He studied physics at the University of Stuttgart and the Technical University of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin between October 1961 to June 1967.[2] He worked on his doctoral thesis under Professor Alfred Seeger at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research and the University of Stuttgart between 1967 and 1969.[2] From December 1969 to October 1970, he was a visiting scientist at the Lomonosov University in Moscow. In 1970, he was given a permanent position as researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Institute of Physics in Stuttgart, where he stayed until his retirement.[2] He continued to travel and write publications after his retirement.[2]

He specialised in the theory of vortices in type-II superconductors.[2] During his career he had over 330 publicationswith over 11,000 citations.[2]

He died on 1 September 2011 at his home, from inoperable pancreatic cancer.[2]