J Benjamin C Whitaker | |
---|---|
Born | 15 May 1956 |
Died | September 21, 2022 66) | (aged
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Sussex |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Chemistry, Physics |
Institutions | University of Leeds |
J Benjamin C Whitaker (born 15 May 1956, died 21 Sept 2022) was Professor of Chemical Physics in the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds. [1]
Whitaker was educated at University College School, London and the University of Sussex (B.Sc. in chemical physics, 1978) where he also completed his doctorate on laser induced emission spectroscopy under the supervision of Professor Tony McCaffery (D.Phil., 1981). He was mainly known for work in molecular reaction dynamics and photofragment-ion imaging. He was also associated with some of the early chemical applications of the web with Henry Rzepa. He was also a committed science communicator and educator, and a founding member of the Superposition arts-science collective. As of 2021, he was on the executive committee of Scientists for Labour. [2] He died in September 2022 following a period of illness.[ citation needed ]
Whitaker, Benjamin J (ed.) (2003), Imaging in Molecular Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-810590 {{citation}}
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Tsubouchi, M; Whitaker, BJ; Wang, L; Kohguchi, H; Suzuki, T (2001), "Photoelectron imaging on time-dependent molecular alignment created by a femtosecond laser pulse", Phys. Rev. Lett., 86 (20): 4500–4503, Bibcode:2001PhRvL..86.4500T, doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4500, PMID 11384268
Hall, G; Whitaker, BJ (1994), "Laser-induced grating spectroscopy", J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans., 90: 1–16, doi:10.1039/FT9949000001
Suits, AG; Bontuyan, LS; Houston, PL; Whitaker, BJ (1992), "Differential cross-sections for state-selected products by direct imaging - Ar+NO", J. Chem. Phys., 96 (11): 8618–8620, Bibcode:1992JChPh..96.8618S, doi:10.1063/1.462265
McCaffery, AJ; Proctor, MJ; Whitaker, BJ (1986), "Rotational energy transfer - polarization and scaling", Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem., 37: 223–244, Bibcode:1986ARPC...37..223M, doi:10.1146/annurev.pc.37.100186.001255
Whitaker, BJ; Brechignac, P (1983), "A new fitting law for rotational energy-transfer", Chem. Phys. Lett., 95 (4–5): 407–412, Bibcode:1983CPL....95..407W, doi:10.1016/0009-2614(83)80583-1
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Molecular physics is the study of the physical properties of molecules and molecular dynamics. The field overlaps significantly with physical chemistry, chemical physics, and quantum chemistry. It is often considered as a sub-field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Research groups studying molecular physics are typically designated as one of these other fields. Molecular physics addresses phenomena due to both molecular structure and individual atomic processes within molecules. Like atomic physics, it relies on a combination of classical and quantum mechanics to describe interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter. Experiments in the field often rely heavily on techniques borrowed from atomic physics, such as spectroscopy and scattering.
Microwave spectroscopy is the spectroscopy method that employs microwaves, i.e. electromagnetic radiation at GHz frequencies, for the study of matter.
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Giacinto Scoles is a European and North American chemist and physicist who is best known for his pioneering development of molecular beam methods for the study of weak van der Waals forces between atoms, molecules, and surfaces. He developed the cryogenic bolometer as a universal detector of atomic and molecule beams that not only can detect a small flux of molecules, but also responds to the internal energy of the molecules. This is the basis for the optothermal spectroscopy technique which Scoles and others have used to obtain very high signal-to noise and high resolution ro-vibrational spectra.
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