Archives
Illinois professor awarded the 2002/3 Wolf Prize in Physics
James
E. Kloeppel, Physical Sciences Editor
(217) 244-1073; kloeppel@uiuc.edu
1/15/03
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Anthony J. Leggett, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected
as a recipient of the 2002/3 Wolf Prize in physics. He shares the prize
with Bertrand I. Halperin of Harvard University.
Leggett, 64, who holds the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair
of Physics and is a professor in the Center for Advanced Study at Illinois,
is being recognized for "his theory of superfluidity of the light
helium isotope at very low temperatures, for his exploration of macroscopic
quantum coherence and for his contribution to the study of dissipation
processes in quantum systems, that cannot be ignored in practical applications."
Leggett’s groundbreaking theoretical work has helped provide a
better understanding of both high-temperature superconductivity and
low-temperature superfluidity (frictionless flow). He was cited in the
announcement of the 1996 Nobel Prize in physics for assisting the prize
winners in their interpretation of the experiments that led to a breakthrough
in low-temperature physics.
His areas of research also have included foundations of quantum mechanics
and the thermal and acoustic properties of glass.
A native of London, Leggett earned his doctorate in physics from Oxford
University in 1964. He worked at Illinois as a postdoctoral research
associate from 1964-5 and again in 1967. He returned to Illinois and
joined the faculty in 1983.
Leggett has achieved many honors, including being named a fellow of
the Royal Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Institute
of Physics. He is an honorary fellow of the British Institute of Physics.
He also is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.
Leggett has been awarded the Maxwell Medal and Prize and the Simon Memorial
Prize of the British Institute of Physics, and he is a foreign member
of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Based in Israel, the Wolf Foundation was established in 1976 by the
late Ricardo Wolf, a German-born diplomat and philanthropist who immigrated
to Cuba and served as Cuban ambassador to Israel, where he died in 1981.
Wolf prizes are awarded annually in recognition of outstanding achievements
in physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, agriculture and the arts.
Each prize consists of a $100,000 honorarium.
Israeli President Moshe Katsav will present the awards in Jerusalem
on May 11.
