Gregory Wannier
Gregory Hugh Wannier (1911–1983) was a Swiss physicist.[1] He developed a complete set of orthogonal functions known as the Wannier functions[2][3] which became tools of the trade for solid-state theorists. He also had made contributions to ferromagnetic theory via the Ising model. The Kramers–Wannier duality yields the exact location of the critical point for the Ising model on the square lattice.[4]
Gregory Wannier | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gregory Hugh Wannier 30 December 1911 Basel, Switzerland |
| Died | 21 October 1983 (aged 71) Oregon, US |
| Alma mater | University of Basel |
| Known for | Wannier equation Wannier function Wannier–Mott exciton Kramers–Wannier duality Geometrical frustration Transfer-matrix method |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Solid-state physics Statistical mechanics |
| Institutions | Bell Labs Socony-Vacuum Oil Company University of Oregon |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernst Stueckelberg Eugene Wigner |
Biography
Wannier received his physics PhD under Ernst Stueckelberg at the University of Basel in 1935. He worked with Professor Eugene P. Wigner as a post-doc exchange student at Princeton in the academic year 1936/1937 and later taught at several American universities before a stint in industry from 1946 to 1960. After working at Socony-Vacuum Laboratories, he joined Bell Laboratories in 1949. There he was in the Physical Electronics Group with colleagues such as William B. Shockley, Conyers Herring, John Bardeen, Charles Kittel, and Philip W. Anderson.[5]
He returned to academia in 1961 at the University of Oregon, where he retired as professor emeritus in 1977. He published a series of important papers on the properties of crystals, working with graduate students and visiting professors. Additionally, he published widely read textbooks on solid-state theory and statistical mechanics.
He was regarded by many in the department as its most eminent member until his death on October 21, 1983. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Books
See also
References
- Anderson, Philip W. (May 1984). "Obituary: Gregory Wannier". Physics Today. 37 (5): 100–101. Bibcode:1984PhT....37e.100A. doi:10.1063/1.2916218.
- Wannier, G. H. (1937). "The structure of electronic excitation levels in insulating crystals". Physical Review. 52 (3): 191–197. Bibcode:1937PhRv...52..191W. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.52.191.
- Wannier, G. H. (1962). "Dynamics of Band Electrons in Electric and Magnetic Fields". Reviews of Modern Physics. 34 (4): 645–655. Bibcode:1962RvMP...34..645W. doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.34.645.
- Kramers, H. A.; Wannier, G. H. (1941). "Statistics of the two-dimensional ferromagnet". Physical Review. 60 (3): 252–262. Bibcode:1941PhRv...60..252K. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.60.252.
- "Anderson, Oral History". Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- Campbell, J. A. (1960). "Review of Elements of Solid State Theory by Gregory H. Wannier". J. Chem. Educ. 37 (5): 272. Bibcode:1960JChEd..37..272C. doi:10.1021/ed037p272.1.
- Weiss, George H. (1967). "Review of Statistical Physics by Gregory H. Wannier". Physics Today. 20 (5): 79–80. Bibcode:1967PhT....20e..79W. doi:10.1063/1.3034327.
External links
- Wannier, Gregory H., The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, 1995
- Gregory Wannier at the Mathematics Genealogy Project